Hopelessly Devoted
by starandnara
Summary: Selena Potter, the older twin of Harry Potter, always tries her best to protect Harry. It isn't always enough, and she never forgives herself when it isn't. Harry loves his twin, she is the other half of his soul after all, but their contrasting personalities are made very apparent during their first year of Hogwarts. Nevertheless, protecting him will always be her priority.
1. The Potters

**Author's Note:**

In this fic Harry has a twin sister, her name is Selena Potter. For those of you who know what the name Selena means her nickname makes a lot of sense. This is NOT a self-insert. This story will be pretty similar to the first book until the sorting.

I own almost nothing except for Selena Potter.

* * *

Their strange day of seeing people in cloaks and owls flying in the daylight is finally coming to an end. Mr. and Mrs. Dursley decide to turn in early for the night. At nearly midnight a man suddenly appears at the street corner. His appearance would have caused gossip if the residents of Privet Drive were awake: a tall thin old man with a beard long enough to tuck into his belt and purple robes that sweep the ground. This man is known as Albus Dumbledore. He is rummaging in his cloak when he catches sight of a cat, "I should have known," he says with a chuckle.

He finds what he is looking for, an object that seems like a silver lighter called a deluminator, and clicks it twelve times. The street is nearly dark so he puts it back inside his cloak. When he turns to look at the tabby cat that had been sitting on the brick wall he instead comes face to face with a severe-looking woman with square classes, hair pulled in a tight bun, and emerald robes. Her glasses match the markings that were around the cat's eyes. "Fancy seeing you here Professor McGonagall."

The two stand there discussing the various activities that have been going on, throwing around words such as "muggle" and "Lord Voldemort" that would sound like gibberish to one not of their kind. They talk about the Potters and how the two parents were killed by Lord Voldemort with their children being the only survivors of the attack. "They're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry, Voldemort's power somehow broke and that's why he's dead," she speaks with a tremble.

Dumbledore nods glumly.

She gasps and takes out a lace handkerchief, "A-And Selena?"

"She seems to have taken no damage, if he had attacked her instead of Harry I am not sure if the results would have been the same," Albus tells her. Minerva McGonagall cries for a while into her handkerchief. The two argue a bit about leaving the two children with the Dursley's, the only relatives they have left, but ultimately Minerva is not able to sway Albus from his decision.

A loud rumbling breaks the silence that had descended after their argument. A motorcycle comes from the sky and lands onto the road. A man twice as tall as a normal man and five times as wide is the one driving the flying motorcycle. He has long bushy black hair that connects to his beard, which covers most of his face. In his muscular arms he is holding two bundles. The man holding the two bundles is named Hagrid. He assures Albus and Minerva that there were no problems during their arrival. The Professors bend forward over the two bundles of blankets. Inside the pink blanket there is a baby girl and inside the blue blanket there is a baby body. Just under the tuft of the baby boy's jet-black hair there is a cut shaped like a lightning-bolt. The two Professors argue once again over the scar with Dumbledore refusing to do anything about it saying it could come in handy one day. They each give their good-byes before Dumbledore lays the two children gently on the doorstep with a letter tucked into the baby girl's blanket. Before he leaves the street, he brings light back into it and turns to see the two bundles on the doorstep. "Good luck Harry and Selena Potter." Then he was gone.

A breeze goes through Privet Drive and the bundle in pink rolls closer to the other one without waking up. Selena Potter seems to be trying to share her warmth with her brother. They sleep on not knowing that they will be waken up by Petunia Dursley's scream in the morning. Selena Potter sleeps on not knowing that for the next few weeks she will be prodded and pinched by her cousin Dudley, because if he does it to Harry he starts to cry and their Aunt Petunia gets angry. Harry Potter sleeps on not knowing that all over the country there are people holding secret meetings in his honor, "To Harry Potter, the boy who lived!"


	2. The Brazilian Boa

Ten years later, Harry Potter and Selena Potter are sleeping only to be waken up by their Aunt Petunia's shrill voice. They wake up with a start and Harry rolls onto his back trying to remember his dream. It had been a good one with a flying motorcycle. Selena, on the other hand, immediately starts dressing and opens the door just as Mrs. Dursley returns to the outside of the door. "At least one of you are up. Get a move on. Look after the bacon, I want everything to be perfect for Dudley's birthday," she snaps.

"Yes Aunt Petunia," Selena says dutifully. She knows that her twin has likely forgotten all about their cousin Dudley's birthday and sends a secret eye roll with her bright emerald eyes to her brother when their Aunt leaves. Harry smiles at his sister, his similar emerald eyes twinkling with mirth. He slowly gets out of bed knowing that Selena is the more capable one when it comes to cooking. He looks for socks and finds a pair with spiders on them. They don't bother him as the cupboard under the stairs where him and his sister sleep are full of them.

When he finishes dressing, he walks down the hall into the kitchen and rolls his eyes. The kitchen table is almost hidden underneath all of Dudley's presents. Exactly why their cousin wants a racing bike is a mystery to the twins. Their cousin hates exercise unless it involves punching someone, his favorite punching bags being Harry and Selena. More often Selena than Harry, as the boy is very fast and can't be caught often. Though he loathes to leave his sister behind she's the one who always insists. Harry doesn't look like he would run fast being too small and skinny for his age. His sister is no better but he's the one who can outrun them. It also doesn't help that the both of them wear Dudley's old clothes, four sizes too big for Harry and five for Selena.

Being twins Harry and Selena have similar characteristics. Green eyes hidden behind round glasses that are kept together with scotch tape, thin faces and black hair. However, Harry has knobbly knees while his sister does not, Selena's hair is straight where Harry's is wild, and Harry has a very thin scar on his forehead shaped as a lightning bolt while Selena's is unmarked. They are both fascinated by the scar. Although they lost some of their curiosity when their Aunt told them that Harry had gotten it in the car crash their parents died in. When Selena tried to ask why she didn't have any scars from the car crash they learned the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursley's, "Don't ask questions."

Their Uncle, Vernon Dursley, enters just as Harry takes out another pan to start on the eggs. "Comb your hair!" He shouts as a greeting. Selena snorts, if haircuts couldn't make a difference what makes him think hair combs would? A boy with blue eyes and thick blonde hair comes into the kitchen. He is Dudley Dursley and looks remarkably like his father in size as well. Aunt Petunia calls him a baby angel while Selena often sneers out that he is a baby whale. It never ends well, thankfully it seems like she has decided to keep her mouth closed just this once. Selena takes the eggs off the stove and serves it with the bacon. Dudley is counting his presents and is about to start a tantrum when he notices that there are only 37 presents where as last year he had 38. Petunia pacifies him by telling him they'll buy him another 2 presents when they go out. Dudley can't add up to see that he would have 39 presents until his mother tells him so. Selena resists the urge to roll her eyes.

Uncle Vernon chuckles, "Little Tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. Atta boy Dudley!"

The phone rings while Dudley unwraps his presents. He is ripping off the paper of his wristwatch when Aunt Petunia comes back looking angry and worried. She tells Vernon that Ms. Figg has broken her leg so she won't be able to take the twins. Once the Dursley's talk they realize nobody else will be able to take the twins and they refuse to leave them alone in the house. Selena does feel sorry that their babysitter broke her leg while Harry is reminded that it will be a long while before he has to look at her cats again. Dudley tries to whine until Aunt Petunia forces them to stay, shooting the twins a nasty look through the gap in his mother's arms, but is interrupted by the doorbell before she can cave into his whims. For once in years, Harry and Selena feel hope. Instead of looking at the photos of all the cats Mrs. Figg has owned they might get to go to the zoo.

A moment later, Dudley's best friend, a scrawny boy with the face of a rat, comes in with his mother. His name is Piers Polkiss and he's usually the one who holds people's arms behind their backs as Dudley punches them. Their cousin stops pretending to cry immediately. During the car ride Selena and Harry stay as quiet as they can, not believing their luck. Their Aunt and Uncle weren't able to think of anything before they left, one grand victory for the Potter twins. "I'm warning you now," Vernon says threateningly to his niece and nephew, "Any funny business, any at all and whoever did it will be in that cupboard until Christmas." Harry looks like he wants to respond but his sister cuts him off with a nod, knowing that their Uncle won't believe whatever he was going to say. Nobody ever believes them.

Strange things always seem to happen around Selena and Harry. One time, Harry came back from the barbers as though he never went. Not long after that, Selena's hair turned red when she got angry at Dudley for punching Harry in the face and breaking his nose. Another time, Aunt Petunia tried to force Harry into one of Dudley's horrid old sweaters but it just got smaller as she pulled it over his head until it was the perfect size for a hand puppet. He wasn't punished for that. He thinks his Aunt must have decided it shrunk in the wash. There was also the time when Selena was given multiple bruises for messing up Dudley's 8th birthday cake and the next day she woke up without any marks. Another strange occurrence was when Harry found himself on the roof of the school's kitchen after he ran away from Dudley and his gang. Selena never mentioned that they didn't go after him because they were a bit preoccupied with her, so Harry thinks it was just luck that got him out of that punishment

But today nothing is going to go wrong and Selena is making sure of that by keeping herself and Harry as quiet as can be. However, silence never comes in the car due to Vernon's constant complaining.

The Dursley's buy Dudley and Pier large chocolate ice creams and are forced to buy the twins cheap lemon pops when the lady asks them what they want. Selena almost chokes on her's when she sees a gorilla scratching it's head, it looks remarkably like Dudley. Hearing Harry snigger beside her tells her that he is thinking the same. The two also get to enjoy a knickerbocker glory since Uncle Vernon bought Dudley a new one when Dudley threw a tantrum over the lack of ice cream it contained. They even find some change on the floor, one of them is a pound!

They enter the reptile house and Dudley immediately finds the largest snake there. He quickly grows bored because the snake doesn't wake up to entertain him. Harry moves in front of the glass once Dudley walks away. "At least we leave the cupboard," Selena says standing beside her brother. "This poor guy is stuck here, day after day, with stupid people banging against the window."

Her brother nods in agreement and is left there alone when his sister moves on to look at the next tank. Without anyone noticing Harry and the snake share a wink, and a short conversation. "Where do you come from anyway?" Harry asks. The snake uses its tail to point at a sign next to the glass:

 _Boa Constrictor, Brazil_

He looks at the snake, "Was it nice there?"

"Harry, who are you talking to?" His sister asks from over his shoulder.

"Er...uhh...nobody. Um, oh, this snake was bred in captivity, like us he never knew his parents either."

Selena nods solemnly, "Poor snake."

A shriek breaks the moment of camaraderie, "DUDLEY! MRS. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!" Dudley goes as quickly as he can, pushing Harry and his sister down hard on the concrete floor. Harry lands on Selena and groans of pain are heard. Harry glares at Dudley when he sees that his sister has a slight bump on her head. What happens next cannot be explained, the glass of the boa constrictor's tank disappears. Pier and Dudley quickly jump away from the tank in horror. The snake uncoils itself and slithers to the floor, causing a terror-filled evacuation. As the snake passes by the twins, in a hissing voice it says, "Brazil here I come. Thanksss amigos."

The zoo director makes a personal apology while Pier and Dudley exaggerate their story. All would have been fine if Pier didn't calm down enough to comment on how Selena and Harry were talking to the snake. Pier is taken home and once they enter the Dursley home the twins are assaulted by their Uncle.

"So which one of you did it?" He huffs angrily while pulling them along the hallway by their hair.

"I-I don't know," Harry says wincing when Uncle Vernon tugs with more force.

Selena gives their Uncle a menacing smirk, "He deserved it."

Vernon throws his niece into the staircase wall, so angry he can barely speak. "Go. Cupboard. Stay. No meals."

"Well that's new," she sneers as she goes into the cupboard.

Still holding Harry by the hair he pushes him to the kitchen, "Get me a brandy boy!"

Much later, Harry comes into the cupboard to see his sister lying in the dark humming to herself. He hands her a loaf of bread that he had managed to nick and she takes it only to break it in half and give the other half to Harry. Harry doesn't argue knowing that it will be pointless, the argument always ends up with him eating anyways.

"We've been here for ten years, you know, sometimes I have this dream of a green light and a burning pain on my forehead. Do you suppose that's the car crash?"

"Car's don't have green lights Prince Harry," his sister says with a small smile. "I highly doubt they died because they crashed in a traffic light. I don't know how our parents died but I don't think Aunt Petunia is telling us the truth when she says they died in a car crash."

"Why do you think that Moony?" The younger twin asks curiously.

"Why should we trust any of them to tell us the truth?"

She brings up an excellent point and she knows she won when her brother moves onto a different subject. "Do you think we'll ever get out of here?"

They both think about all those strange people who greet Harry on the streets as if they know him but vanish within seconds. All the Potter twins have are each other, even at school everybody knows that Dudley hates them and nobody likes to disagree with him and his gang.

Selena doesn't answer, instead she grabs a book from her school bag and turns on the cupboard light. "The librarian from the public library gave me this the other day, you want me to read it to you?" Harry nods and joins his sister on their twin-sized bed.

"Thousands of years ago, in ancient China there lived a beautiful young girl named Mulan…"


	3. Letters

The summer holidays start before Selena is allowed out of the cupboard again, with Harry giving her food and her giving him half. With school over Selena goes to the public library almost all day and Harry walks around the neighborhood to get away from Dudley and his gang. They are looking forward to the end of the holiday. When September comes the Potter twins will attend Stonewall High while Dudley and Pier are going to Uncle Vernon's old private school, Smeltings.

One day in July, their Aunt takes Dudley to buy his Smeltings uniform and leaves the twins at Ms. Figg's house. It doesn't end up being that bad as she isn't as fond of her cats seeing as she broke her leg because she tripped over one, also she gives them cake. Dudley looks ridiculous parading around in his Smeltings uniform that evening and if Harry didn't stopped his sister from laughing she would have gotten herself locked up in the cupboard again.

A horrible smell is coming from the kitchen, it turns out their Aunt is dying some of Dudley's old clothes to make the school uniforms for Harry and Selena. Dudley comes in carrying his Smeltings stick with his dad. When they hear the click of the mail slot Vernon tries to send Dudley to get the mail. "I'll get it," Selena says before Dudley can turn the tables on them. On the doormat there's a postcard from Uncle Vernon's sister Marge, a brown envelope, and two letters. One for Harry and one for Selena.

 _Mr. H Potter_

 _The Cupboard under the Stairs_

 _4 Privet Drive_

 _Little Whinging_

 _Surrey_

 _Ms. S Potter_

 _The Cupboard under the Stairs_

 _4 Private Drive_

 _Little Whinging_

 _Surrey_

The envelope is thick and heavy, written with emerald ink on yellow parchment. On the other side there is a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms: a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding an H. Her uncle calls her to hurry up and she quickly throws them into the cupboard before taking the rest of the mail to Vernon.

Later at night, when Selena enters the cupboard she puts all the loose change they managed to scrounge up that day in a bag they have hidden under a floorboard. She grabs the letters from where they landed on the floor and motions for Harry to get inside quickly.

"What are those?" Her brother asks curiously.

"Shhh...They're letters addressed to us. Look they have our cupboard on it," she whispers as she hands him his letter. They hold their own letters in their hands and simultaneously begin opening them.

"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," they both whisper.

"You think this is some kind of a joke?" Selena says.

Harry scrunches his nose, "I dunno, do they say the same thing?" Wordlessly they switch letters.

 _HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

 _Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE_

 _(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards)_

 _Dear Mr./Ms. Potter,_

 _We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

 _Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31._

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Minerva McGonagall,_

 _Deputy Headmistress_

After a few minutes Harry stammers, "What do they mean they await our owl?"

"Well it seems they use owls to send post, explains why there aren't any stamps."

"Do you...Do you think this is real?"

"It explains all the strange things that happen around us," the older twin says simply. "We could just write them back and tell them that we need more information, the worst that can happen is that they don't answer."

"And how are we going to do that? Moony, do you have a pet owl I don't know about?"

Selena rolls her eyes, "Prince Harry, don't you remember there's a brown owl that's been hanging around the house all day? I'm pretty sure that's the owl that delivered this to us and it's probably waiting for us to give it a response so it can go back."

"Oh, right," her brother says abashedly. Selena goes through her school bag and takes out a piece of paper along with a black pen.

 _Dear Minerva McGonagall,_

 _We will keep the list of all necessary books and equipment, but we honestly have no idea what you are talking about. This is the first we have heard of witchcraft and wizardry, although it does explain many things. We request more information before we accept our place at Hogwarts._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Selena and Harry Potter_

They both sneak out of the house and as soon as the brown owl sees them it swoops down to take their letter before flying away.


	4. The Deputy Headmistress

For a few days nothing out of the ordinary happens so the twins both decide that Hogwarts is just a joke. That is until the morning of July 31. During breakfast, a knock on the door is heard and Selena goes to open it. In front of her is a woman wearing typical work attire with an emerald blouse. "Um...how may I help you?"

"Ms. Potter, I am Minerva McGonagall from Hogwarts. I came to answer your's and Mr. Potter's request for more information," the severe-looking lady says.

"Y-You mean that wasn't a joke?"

Minerva raises an eyebrow, "I believe it would be better to explain this inside where others won't hear."

Selena allows her inside and closes the door behind her. "My Aunt and Uncle are in the kitchen along with Harry," she says as she leads McGonagall to the kitchen.

"Who's this?" Uncle Vernon asks.

"She's from our school," Selena does not divulge which school, "Would you like some tea?"

Minerva nods and Selena puts the kettle on the stove. Harry sends Selena a questioning look and she nods at the unspoken question. Suddenly her brother is much more interested in the mystery woman. When Selena finishes preparing her tea Minerva takes a sip from it before speaking, "From their letter, it seems that Mr. And Ms. Potter know nothing about the wizarding world."

Uncle Vernon makes a rasping noise, "They are not going, we swore that when we took them in we'd put a stop to all this rubbish!"

"You knew," Harry shouts, "You knew about me and Selena being magical and you never told us?!"

"Knew," Petunia shrieks, "Knew! Of course we knew! How could you two not be, my dratted sister and her husband being what they were? She got a letter just like that and disappeared off to that school and came home every vacation. I was the only one who saw her for what she was, a freak! But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in the family! When I saw you two, I knew you'd both be just as strange, just as abnormal, and then she went and got herself blown up and we got landed with the both of you!"

Harry goes pale, "Blown up? You told us they died in a car crash!"

Minerva interrupts with false calm, "While I found it strange that the Potter twins know nothing about the wizarding world. I hoped that it was untrue. Harry Potter cannot go into the wizarding world without knowing his own story, when every other child knows his name."

"My brother," Selena says dubiously, "is famous in the wizarding world?"

"Sit, Ms. and Mr. Potter," they do so. "I cannot tell you everything as there is much mystery surrounding it. There was a wizard who went evil, so evil that even people today are scared and they often refer to him as You-Know-Who but his name was...Voldemort. About twenty years ago he started looking for followers, some joined him for a little of his power, others were afraid. These were dark days, filled with mistrust. Those who stood up to him were killed. Professor Dumbledore was the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of, making Hogwarts one of the only safe places.

Your mother and father were exceptional wizards. You-Know-Who never tried to recruit them before which is why it was strange that he turned up in the village where you all lived, ten years ago on Halloween. You two were only one-year-old at that time when You-Know-Who...killed them. Then he tried to kill Harry too. It seemed that the killing curse he used didn't work, which is how you got that scar. No one has ever survived the killing curse before or You-Know-Who, except for Harry. That's what makes him famous in the wizarding world.

That same day You-Know-Who vanished. Some say he died and others believe he is still out there. Something happened that night that he did not count on, something about you Mr. Potter."

"That's enough!" Uncle Vernon seems to have collected some backbone. "Haven't I told you that they will not be going? They are going to Stonewall High and they will be grateful for it. I am not paying for some crackpot old fool to teach them magic tricks!"

"The Potter twins have had their names down since they were born and you will not be able to stop them. Should you try to do so I can assure you that Professor Dumbledore will pay a visit," Minerva says coldly and that causes Petunia to freeze up. She turns back to the twins, "Now do go get some jumpers, I will take you two to Hagrid and he will be escorting you to Diagon Alley."

Petunia is still frozen and Selena takes the opportunity, "You know Aunt Petunia, those letters were the funniest thing. I thought this was all an elaborate trick with the yellow parchment and the emerald ink. I guess that I should have known better. It said Ms. S Potter. The Cu-"

"The bedroom up stairs," her Aunt cuts her off and looks nervously at Professor McGonagall, "When you two come back for the holidays, don't leave your stuff lying about. Keep it in your bedroom upstairs."

Harry and Selena grin, "Yes Aunt Petunia." Once they get to the hallway Selena only opens the cupboard enough to grab two faded grey jumpers, their school lists, and a bag from under a floorboard before closing it quickly.

Minerva takes one look at their oversized matching red t-shirts, dark blue trousers, faded grey jumpers, and worn out sneakers. If it weren't for Selena's shoulder-length straight hair and Harry's messy mop the two would be nearly indiscernible. She shudders at the thought of them being as much trouble as the Weasley twins are. Or for Merlin's sake, as much as James and his best friend Sirius were.


	5. Diagon Alley

They take a bus to a train station that will take them to London. "Did you bring it?" Harry asks his sister.

"Yup," Selena says as she lays a rather heavy bag on her lap.

Minerva looks at the bag. "What is that?"

The twins grin proudly. "Over 1000 pounds," they say.

Selena chirps, "Money I earned helping out at the public library-"

"Money we find-"

"Money Dudley pays us to do his homework -"

"Money I earn mowing lawns-"

"Money the Dursley's pay to Ms. Figg but she gives to us," Selena and Harry finish off.

"When did you start saving?" The Professor asks.

"About three years ago." Harry shrugs, "It was Moony's idea."

"And it was a good idea Prince Harry! If I hadn't thought of it then we hadn't any money to pay for our stuff," she punches her brother lightly on the arm.

"Using it on sweets would have been nice too," Harry grumbles.

Minerva finds their nicknames for each other amusing, rather clever in a way. "I'll inform Hagrid to take you two to Gringotts, the wizarding bank, to have that exchanged into wizard currency."

They are quiet for the rest of the bus ride and remain that way until halfway through their train trip to London. "If you have different money do you think this is enough to pay for both mine and Harry's things?" Selena asks with a hint of worry.

"It should be more then enough Ms. Potter, especially if you decide to buy second-hand books instead of brand new ones. They are just as good."

Selena nods and talks quietly to her twin, "That would save a lot of money. No need to spend more then we must. Everything else will have to be new. But maybe there will be enough money to buy you a birthday present. Perhaps an owl?"

"That would be brilliant," her twin grins, "but what about you, don't you want a birthday present?"

Selena smiles and exaggerates her accent, "Prince Harry, my present is the reaction you have when your highness is given an owl." The twins laugh together and the problem of Selena's present is forgotten. Unbeknownst to the twins Minerva is smiling softly at their antics, although the fact that the older twin put her brother's happiness in front of her own does not go unnoticed.

The group gets off the train and with practiced ease Professor McGonagall leads them through London. "Is there some sort of magical government?" Harry asks.

"Good question Mr. Potter. Yes it is called the Ministry of Magic, their main job is to keep magic hidden from muggles, those without magic. The Minister's name is Cornelius Fudge." They pass by multiple shops. All of them seem ordinary. The twins can't help but wonder if there really is somewhere that you can buy wands, spell books, and broomsticks in London?

"Here we are," the Professor comes to a halt. They are standing in front of a tiny, grubby pub called the Leaky Cauldron. The people around them don't even glance at it, as if they cannot see it. Inside it is very dark and shabby. Minerva looks overdressed compared to the old women sitting in the corner and the giant man with bushy hair sitting at the bar.

"I do hope you haven't been drinking Hagrid."

"Professor McGonagall! Just got 'ere meself," Hagrid looks at the twins, "I haven't seen you two since you were babies. Yeh both look a lot like yer' dad, yeh've got yer' mom's eyes though...Enough of that, I haven't introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."

"I better be off. Hagrid, they have money they'd like to exchange for galleons. I know Professor Dumbledore gave you their vault key but it is unnecessary for them to take money out of their vault. They will need it though to exchange the pounds." She turns to the twins. "I have other things I must attend to. I expect to see you both on September first. Happy Birthday Mr. and Ms. Potter," she disappears with a crack.

"Wicked," the twins say.

"Good Lord," says the bartender while peering over Harry, "Is this- can this be? Bless my soul. Harry Potter...What an honor!" Suddenly Selena is pushed away from her twin as a crowd of people surround Harry to shake his hand. She doesn't mind Harry getting the attention, apparently he had done an amazing feat but to her he will always be her younger twin. So like hell will she let them harass him.

She takes a step back, places two fingers in her mouth and whistles loudly. The crowd looks over to her. She pushes them out of the way and grabs her twin's hand. "If you will excuse us, Harry and I need to go buy our stuff for school."

Whispers start again about how she must be the other twin but they do not approach them. Hagrid chuckles, "A fiery one eh, just like yer' mother." Hagrid tries to lead them through the bar but they are stopped by a pale young man. "Professor Quirrell! Harry, Selena Professor Quirrell will be your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts."

"Hullo," they say.

"P-P-Potters," stammers Quirrell as he shakes both of their hands, "c-can't tell you how pleased I am to meet you both. N-Not that Mr. Potter will be needing my t-teaching, eh?" He laughs nervously, "You both will be g-getting all your equipment, I suppose?"

"Ah, must get on! Come on Harry, Selena lots ter buy," Hagrid says before leading them to a small, walled courtyard.

"Is he always that nervous?" Harry asks.

"Oh yeah. Poor bloke met some vampires in the Black Forest and there was a bit o' trouble with a hag. Never been the same since, scared of everything. Where's me umbrella," he takes out a pink umbrella. "Three up, two across. Right, stand back you two." Hagrid taps some bricks and from those a small hole appears and grows wider and wider. A second later they are facing a large archway.

"Welcome," says Hagrid, "to Diagon Alley."

He grins at their amazement and once they step out of the archway they quickly turn around to see it shrink back into a solid wall. The cobblestone street of Diagon Alley twists and turns out of sight. The sun is shining on the cauldrons stacked up in front of the nearest shop.

"We gotta get yer' money first," Hagrid tells them.

"How exactly is the money protected?" Selena asks.

"With lots of things like spells n' enchantments n' dragons."

"Dragons!" Selena says excitedly, "You mean dragons are real?"

Hagrid smiles, "You bet they are! Always wanted a dragon meself. You inter'sted Selena?"

Harry snorts, "Moony has always loved dragons, she likes all animals really. Patched up a couple of cats and dogs."

"I reckon' you are goin' to enjoy Care o' Magical Creatures," the Keeper of Keys says. Selena's eyes shine.

They pass by the Apothecary, Eyes Owl Emporium, Quality Quidditch Supplies, and many other shops. They reach a snowy white building with bronze doors. Standing in front of it wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold is a-

"Goblins, they run Gringotts," Hagrid informs them. The goblin is a head shorter than the twins with a swarthy face and long fingers and feet. He bows to them as they walk in. On the second set of doors there's a warning carved into them. A pair of goblins bow to them when they pass by those doors. The three make their way to a counter.

"Good morning sir," Selena says politely to the goblin before Hagrid could. She places their bag of savings on the counter, "I'm Selena Potter and I'd like to change this into wizarding currency please."

The goblin nods with a strange expression on his face, "As long as you have your key we are able to do so Ms. Potter."

Hagrid rummages through his coat before taking out a small golden key, "An' I also got a note from Professor Dumbledore. It's about you-know-what in vault 713."

The goblin looks at the key and reads the letter closely, "Everything seems to be in order. Very well I will have someone take you both down to the vaults. It seems like there are some things I must discuss with Ms. Potter. Griphook!"

Harry and Hagrid look like they want to stay but Selena shakes her head. They leave and the older twin is left with the goblin. "What do we need to talk about Mr-?"

"Vamish. Ms. Potter, I'm not sure how much you know about your heritage but your parents have left quite the fortune behind. One trust fund vault for your brother, one for you, the Potter family vault from your father, and the Black family vault from your grandmother's family. You and your brother may use your trust fund vaults to buy your school's supplies and such, but the Potter and Black family vaults can only be opened by you on your majority, the 17th birthday. Or in the occurrence that there is no current Head of House and the family magic deems you ready."

"O-Okay but isn't an heir status only passed down to like the first male born?"

"In the muggle world yes but here heir status is automatically, magically given to the first born. It just so happens that in pureblood families boys are much more often the firstborn although that isn't always the case. Even though you and Mr. Potter are twins, you are still the eldest one."

Selena hums to herself, "What exactly does it mean to be an heiress?"

Mr. Vamish explains, "You become the Head of the Potter and Black households. Essentially you are responsible for the Potter and Black reputation, family heirlooms and vaults, and serve as the guardian for young family members who have no parents."

"Okay but what is this pureblood crap? And if I became the Head of the Potter family before Harry turns 17 does that make me the guardian of Harry?"

"Purebloods are those who come from two magical parents who also had magical parents and so on. Muggleborns are wizards who's come from non-magical parents. Half-bloods are those who have one magical parent and one parent who is either non-magical or are a wizard who has non-magical parentage. Your father was a pureblood and your mother a muggle-born, which makes you and your brother half-bloods.

And to answer your second question, yes you would be. If Harry runs-away you'd still be his guardian, unless you disown him from the family, only a godparent would be able to fight your claim. Family magic is extended to godparents, it is an ancient magic therefore it is not within the Ministry's jurisdiction to challenge you or the godparents so that would have to be settled within the family."

"Well I doubt Harry and I have any godparents or else we would have went to them instead of the Dursleys. Okay so how do I claim my heiress status and when will I know that the family magic deems me ready?"

Vamish has Selena claim her inheritance by pricking her finger and swiping some blood on her key. The key glows and suddenly a small wooden box appears from the key, she just manages to catch it before it falls. The goblin tells her that those are the rings she must wear as the heiress. One ring has a giant emerald stone with the words Toujours Pur engraved onto it. Both bands are gold and heavy with intricate designs. They remind Selena of the one Uncle Vernon has from his high school days. The other ring has a much smaller ruby and no words engraved onto it, just a simple elegant P. The rings were obviously made for men but Selena doesn't really mind. Once she puts the two rings on her ring finger they resize to fit her perfectly, causing them to look more dainty than before. Mr. Vamish explains to her that when the Potter family magic deems her ready the ruby will turn gold and when the Black family magic deems her ready the emerald will turn black. When they both deem her ready her full name will be Selena Alice Potter-Black.

"The other two should be arriving soon, I had managed to tell Griphook to take them on the long route. You have showed us great respect today Ms. Potter, it is not everyday that we get polite responses from a member of a pureblood family. I wish you luck on your endeavors and here is the money you requested to be exchanged. There is 202 galleons with 13 sickles and 6 knuts. 17 sickles to a galleon and 29 knuts to a sickle. Good day Ms. Potter."

"Have a good day Mr. Vamish!" Selena says before turning and walking to the rest of her party. Hagrid definitely looks like he's going to be sick while Harry's hair is even messier then usual.

"That was wicked Moony. I think it was like being on a rollercoaster."

"Well I'm sorry I had to do actual work Prince Harry," Selena sighs dramatically. "I'm afraid I'll have to wait until next year...Anyways Mr. Vamish just told me that we are actually filthy rich but we can't access all the money until I'm 17, since I'm the oldest and apparently the heiress. We can only get money from our trusts but I don't know how much is in there so we should be careful. Huh, I probably should have asked for the statements. Oh well, something to do for next time. We should get going! There's only so many hours in the day."

She grabs Harry and drags him toward the doors. Her younger twin lets her drag him around as he is still processing what she said. He nods slowly in understanding before walking with his sister and Hagrid out of Gringotts.

"Might as well get yer' uniforms," Hagrid nods over to a store called Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. "You two wouldn't mind if I slipped off fer' a pick me up at Leaky Cauldron? I hate them Gringotts carts." Both twins look at each other and nod to give him permission, it's not like they aren't used to doing things by themselves.

Madam Malkin is a squat witch dressed in all mauve, "Hogwarts dears? Got the lot, there's another boy being fitted in the back." She takes them to the back of the shop where a boy with a pale, pointed face is standing on a footstool. Madam Malkin stands over the twins and slips a long robe on Harry before pinning it to the right length, another woman comes and does the same to Selena. The pale boy strikes up a rather one-sided conversation with Harry and Selena can tell that her twin is getting frustrated. Even she can't help but scowl at the boy when he calls Hagrid a savage. The prat mentions their parents and she knows that Harry definitely won't keep his mouth shut. He accidentally claims to be a pureblood when he isn't one. Selena sighs, her brother really should think before opening his mouth. Draco goes on about how he thinks that those with non-magical blood in them shouldn't be allowed at Hogwarts. "What's your surname anyway?"

Before Harry can say something stupid like his real name, the idiot clearly doesn't remember that he's famous in this world and shouldn't be giving out his full name to everyone, Selena firmly says, "Black." The boy looks straight at her. Unbeknownst to her, her eyes had turned grey from anger. Madam Malkin and her assistant tell Harry and Selena that they are done so they leave to go ring up their purchases at the cashier. They leave the pale boy stunned.

Harry is rather gloomy as he eats his chocolate and raspberry ice cream with chopped nuts. His sister eats her vanilla ice cream with sprinkles angrily. She's read a lot of books since she spends most of her time at the local public library. One of those many books being The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. She was only about seven at the time and it is certainly a book she shouldn't have been reading at that age, but there wasn't anyone there to stop her. It was the book that opened her eyes to the fact that the world is filled with discrimination and cruelty. Anne Frank and her family were killed because a powerful group saw them as racially inferior. The German Nazis and Purebloods aren't much different according to their ideals and that is what makes Selena especially angry about the pureblood crap the prat at the robe shop was spouting. How can anyone follow the same philosophy as Nazis?!

"...School houses. There's four of them, everyone says Hufflepuffs are a lot o' duffers but-"

"I bet I'm a Hufflepuff," Harry says.

"Better Hufflepuff than Slytherin." Hagrid isn't helping Selena's anger much either. "There wasn't a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't a Slytherin, You-Know-Who was one."

Selena raises a spoon threateningly at Hagrid, "Are you kidding me! There's even discrimination according to what freaking Hogwarts house you're sorted into? That's completely mental! I refuse to believe that an entire house went dark just because You-Know-Who and some of his followers were Slytherins! And you!" She points the spoon at her brother who raises his hands in defense, "If I ever! EVER! Catch you talking bullcrap like that Harry James Potter I will kick your arse faster than you can apologize!" The two men look at her and quickly mutter out apologies. She goes back to eating her ice cream angrily while looking at the rest of her school list:

 _HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

 _UNIFORM_

 _First-year students will require:_

 _1\. Three sets of plain work robes (black)._

 _2\. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear._

 _3\. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)._

 _4\. One winter cloak (black, silver fastening)._

 _Please note that all pupils' robes should carry name tags._

 _COURSE BOOKS_

 _All students should have a copy of each of the following:_

 _The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk_

 _A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot_

 _Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling_

 _A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emetic Switch_

 _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore_

 _Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger_

 _Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander_

 _The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble_

 _OTHER EQUIPMENT_

 _Wand_

 _Cauldron (pewter, standard size 2) set_

 _Glass or crystal phials_

 _Telescope set_

 _Brass scales_

 _Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad._

 _PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS._

They stop in a shop called Flourish and Blotts and after grabbing the second-hand textbooks they need Selena goes off to look for books she can possibly want to buy. She picks out second-hand copies of Healing at Home with Herbs, Most Macabre Monstrosities, Merpeople: A Comprehensive Guide to Their Language and Customs, Little People Big Plans, A Children's Anthology of Monsters, Nature's Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy, Common Magical Ailments and Afflictions, Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland, Hairy Snout Human Heart, Pure-Blood Directory, Madcap Magic for Wacky Warlocks, The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, Protection Charm Your Mind: A Practical Guide to Counter Legilimency, Saucy Tricks for Tricky Sorts, One Minute Feasts-It's Magic!, Enchantment in Baking, The Healer's Helpmate, Practical Household Magic, Pureblood Customs, and Hogwarts: A History. Harry looks at her stack of books, "Moony, I think you have a problem."

"Sod off, all of these books are only going to cost like 7 galleons anyways. Or haven't you noticed that there's a sale? Four second-hand books for a galleon Prince Harry! You can't expect me to pass up this opportunity. Plus it's still six galleons less than if I had bought the textbooks brand new, not to mention all the money we saved on your extra books because you don't read!" Harry throws his hands up in the air, knowing he lost. Besides it's not like she didn't have space, the trunks they bought for school have an expansion charm and a feather-light charm. Other than that Selena doesn't spend any more money than she had too, and she wouldn't let Harry either.

They are standing outside the wand shop. Selena pushes Harry aside so she can talk to Hagrid. "Hagrid, you're thinking about getting Harry a birthday present right?"

"Goin' to buy both of you one," Hagrid says.

She waves him off, "Don't worry about me. I was talking to Harry earlier about possibly getting him an owl. I was thinking we could each pay half of it. It'll be more special for him if his owl came from his twin and you Hagrid."

Hagrid starts tearing up, "O' course! I'd be happy too."

Selena hands him the 10 galleons when Hagrid tells her that should be enough. She skips back over to her twin and the two go into Ollivander's together. They hold hands, this is what the both of them have been looking forward to. The shop feels more like a library with thousands of narrow boxes stacked up high on shelves, except something about it tickles their senses.

"Good afternoon," says a soft voice.

Harry jumps. Selena simply turns to look at the old man, "Hullo."

"Ah yes," says the man, "Mr. and Ms. Potter I knew I'd be seeing you two soon. You both have your mother's eyes. It seems like just yesterday she was in here buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work. Your father favored a mahogany wand, eleven inches, pliable. A little more powerful and excellent for transfiguration. Well I say your father favored it but it really is the wand that chooses the wizard."

The wand maker approaches Harry so that they are almost nose to nose, "And that's where…" He lifts his finger to touch Harry's scar but Selena pulls her brother back.

"We are here to get our wands," she says in a no nonsense tone.

The old man steps back, "I'm sorry to say that I sold the wand that did it. Yew. Powerful wand, and in the wrong hands...Very well then. Potters, let me see. Which is your wand arm?"

"Er...Well we're both right handed," says Harry.

Once the younger twin raises his right arm the tape measure starts measuring Harry on it's own then moves on to Selena while Ollivander speaks. "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same and of course you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand. Right then, Mr. Potter and Ms. Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. Give it a wave." Ollivander snatches it away from Harry almost immediately and as soon as he gives it to Selena he has it back in his hand. "Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy." Harry hardly raises his arm when the wand is taken away. Selena hardly even touches it when he puts it back. "Here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy." This keeps going on and on, the pile of boxes growing high and Ollivander getting more excited as time goes on.

"Tricky customers, not to worry we will find the right one. I wonder, yes unusual combinations, but which to give?...Mr. Potter, holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple. Ms. Potter, yew and unicorn hair, thirteen inches, rigid."

Harry takes the wand, feeling warmth through his fingers. He swishes the wand, a stream of red and gold sparks shoot from the end like fireworks.

"Oh good!" Ollivander looks expectantly at Selena who is looking at the rather elegant piece of wood in her hands carefully. Selena is remembering all the facts she knows about yew: how it can be seen as a symbol of eternity, immortality, or a symbol of death because of it's toxicity. Although she also remembers reading that something in European yew leaves serve as an anti-cancer agent. She finds that ironic. The older twin shrugs off her thoughts before swishing the wand. The wand sends out a stream of silver sparks that fly off throughout the store like firecrackers.

"Brilliant!" Ollivander tells her, "I don't think I've ever seen such a bonding before! However, this is very curious, very curious indeed...I remember every wand I've ever sold. It just so happen that the phoenix whose tail feather is in Mr. Potter's wand gave one other feather. It is strange that he is destined for this wand when its brother gave him that scar...I think we should expect great things from you Mr. Potter.

As for you Ms. Potter, yew has a notoriously dark reputation but it has been found in the hands of villains just as much as it has been with heroes. It took many errors to attach the yew wood with unicorn hair, the toxicity of the wood and a hair of a creature seen as being the purest out there not agreeing. But together you have a very powerful and loyal wand, although the wood will influence others' outlook on your wand despite the reputation of unicorn hair. I feel that we must expect great change from you Ms. Potter."

Harry looks at his twin with worry, he can tell she feels as disturbed by Mr. Ollivander as he is. They pay seven galleons each for their wands and leave the store, there Hagrid is waiting for them with a snowy white owl in a cage. "Happy Birthday Harry! This is from me and yer' sister." Hagrid beams when he sees Harry's gobsmacked look. Harry looks at the owl then at his twin for confirmation, she nods with a huge smile on her own face. Harry is carrying his owl while stammering out his thanks to his sister and Hagrid.

It's late afternoon when the trio make their way into Paddington Station, Selena drives off the gawkers with her protective hovering. Hagrid tells them they have a bit of time to eat before the train arrives. He buys them a hamburger and they sit down on plastic seats to eat them. Hagrid and the older twin share a look. "Harry, what's wrong?" She asks.

"All these people think I'm special. But I don't know anything about magic and I can't remember what I'm famous for. How can they expect great things?"

Hagrid leans across the table with a very kind smile, "Don't worry Harry. Everyone starts at the beginning at Hogwarts. Yeh've been singled out, an' that's always hard but remember yeh've always got your sister. Together you both will have a great time at Hogwarts." Hagrid helps them on the train that will take them back to the Dursley's. He hands them an envelope with their tickets to get to Hogwarts. He tells them the tickets are for September 1st at King's Cross Station and if they have any problems with the Dursley's to owl him. Although judging by Selena's smirk he doesn't think there will be any problems.


	6. Journey from Platform 9 & Three Quarters

What the younger twin doesn't know is that his sister has threatened their Aunt and Uncle, telling them that she will give their Headmaster fully detailed accounts of their abuse if they don't treat them civilly. And who knows what the punishment for child abuse is in the wizarding world? Therefore, Dudley and Vernon have taken to staying out of their way while Petunia leaves them food and actually says please when she needs them to do something. Because of this their last month with the Dursley's is probably the best time they've ever had there. Poor Harry is rather frazzled by the change.

Selena, as per usual, spends most of her time at the public library helping out and still saving money even though it turns out she's rich. On the weekends when the library is closed, she stays in her room almost all day reading her textbooks and the three books she bought to help her with pureblood culture. On occasion she delves into the domestic books. Harry has taken to just staying in his room when he isn't in the kitchen eating or doing something for Aunt Petunia. In his room he lays on his and Selena's full-sized bed while reading his school books. His owl Hedwig, a name from the History of Magic book, keeps him company while his sister is out. Once Selena comes home Hedwig swoops out of the window to hunt, often bringing back dead mice. His twin usually comes back home tired from the distance of the library but never fails to cuddle up with him and read their course materials out loud. That's how he found Hedwig's name.

On the late evening of the last day of August, Harry tells Selena that they should talk to their Aunt and Uncle about getting to King's Cross Station the next day. His sister rolls her eyes and flicks his forehead, "I have money saved, we can just take the bus. People might think that Hedwig is a bit strange but they'll just wave it off." They settle into their nightly routine of cuddling and reading.

The arrival of September 1st comes as a shock to him, he hasn't realized that living contently can make time fly by. He wakes up at five in the morning and is too excited to go back to sleep. Selena is jarred awake by her brother's fight to get out of bed and resigns to her fate. They eat breakfast and before they leave Selena makes sure to leave their Aunt a note that says they have left. On the bus people do indeed look at the two skinny preteens with giant trunks and a pet owl strangely but as Harry's sister had predicted they are just ignored. They reach King's Cross around ten and decide to buy some smoothies before getting onto the platform.

Selena had stayed up most of the night reading Hogwarts: A History. Bathilda Bagshot wrote about the formation of Platform 9 and so Selena knows about the barrier one has to go through to get onto the platform. With a smoothie in their hand and a cart the twins run through the barrier with their eyes closed. When they open their eyes a scarlet engine is waiting for them next to the platform. Smoke from the train drifts over the platform swarming with people, cats, and owls. The front carriages are packed with students hanging out of windows talking with their families and fighting for seats. The older twin follows her brother with both of the nearly-empty smoothies in her hand as he pushes the cart down the platform in search of an empty carriage. They pass by a round-faced boy who says he has lost his toad. Selena notes that the older woman, possibly his grandma, calls him Neville. They press on until they find an empty compartment near the end of the train. Selena sits, finishing the rest of Harry's smoothie while watching him struggle with the trunks.

"Aren't you going to help?" He asks.

"They have a feather-light charm on them Prince Harry, you really shouldn't be having so much trouble," she finishes off her statement with a slurp. Hedwig hoots from her cage next to Selena, most likely in laughter.

"Want a hand?" A red-haired fellow asks.

"Yes please, my sister is no help," he responds and sees his sister stick her nose up in the air then turn away from him

"Oi! Fred! C'mere and help!"

Another fellow who looks just like the one before comes. Harry is unshaken as he has a twin himself. With their help Harry and Selena's trunks are tucked away in the corner of the compartment. It seems that even the feather-light charm can't combat the weight of all the books his sister has in her trunk. How she had managed to lug that thing on and off the bus is a mystery to him.

"Thanks," Harry says as he pushes his hair out of his eyes.

"What's that?" One of the twins say pointing to the lightning-bolt scar.

"Blimey George," says the other twin, "are you-"

"He is," says the first twin, "aren't you?"

"What?" Harry asks a bit annoyed.

"Harry Potter," they say.

"Yes," a voice drawls. The twins jump when they see a mirror image of Harry Potter behind Harry Potter. "It's the great Harry Potter, please take a picture if you must but no autographs are given unless you are willing to pay 3 galleons. No? Okay then, thank you for your services." She closes the compartment door on them and the twins can only gawk at it.

Fred turns to George, "I didn't know that Harry Potter-"

"Has a twin!" George finishes.

They grin, "Wicked!" They leave when their mom calls them.

Harry sits in the seat where he's half-hidden from the red-headed family. Selena sits on the other side pretending to be immersed in her copy of Hogwarts: A History. They can hear everything that is being be said. The twins' mom has just taken out a handkerchief in an attempt to rub the dirt off the nose of the youngest boy, she calls him Ron. One of the twins tease Ron until their mom interrupts by asking where Percy is. The oldest boy comes, he has the trademark family hair with his Hogwarts robes on and a shiny silver badge with a P pinned onto it. The twins tease their brother Percy and their mother for a short while. Selena almost regrets being rude to them, they seem like people she could get along with.

"Hey mom, guess who we just met on the train?" George starts.

Just kidding, she regrets nothing.

"You won't believe who that black-haired boy was, the one pulling the trolley with the two trunks?" Continues Fred.

"Who?"

"Harry Potter," they say.

Selena snaps, "I'd very much appreciate it if you didn't talk about my brother as if he was an attraction." The family of red-heads all turn to face her, slightly shocked. Their stares don't affect her as she angrily shuts the compartment window. Her brother sends her a grateful smile that she returns with a slight smirk.

"And that's his twin sister," Fred says joyfully.

"She kicked us out of their compartment earlier," George tells them with inexplicable happiness.

The only girl says, "He has a twin! Oh, Mum, I didn't know that. Can I go on the train and see him, please?"

"Ginny, you already saw him. And his sister is right, he isn't something you ogle at the zoo. Poor dears had to come here all alone."

"We wanted to ask him if he would remember how You-Know-Who looks like-"

"But meeting his sister I think it's best we don't."

The mother looks at the twins sternly, "Fred and George if I-"

"Yes mum," they droll.

A whistle blows signaling that the train is about to leave. Harry feels safe enough to peek his head back out. He watches the mother and little sister of the twins. Their mother waves as their sister runs with the train until it goes too fast and she falls back with a wave. Selena can feel the wistfulness radiating off her brother but says nothing.

The compartment door slides open and Ron comes in. "Err…Is this compartment full?"

They have plenty of seats so Harry and Selena simultaneously shake their head although the older twin hadn't even lifted her eyes from her book. Ron grew up with twins but he still finds the synchronized actions strange so he says nothing as he sits next to Harry and looks around the carriage as if it is immensely interesting. The twins come back to tell Ron that they are going down to the middle of the train where Lee Jordan has a tarantula.

"Harry," says Fred, "Did we introduce ourselves? Fred and George Weasley. And this is our brother, Ron."

"Yes, I do believe we heard your names earlier," Selena comments idly as she continues to read her book.

"Oh yeah," George says, "Sorry about that. Err...We didn't catch your name."

"That's because it hasn't been said," she drawls, "but if you must know it's Selena Potter." She looks up from her book, "Don't you have a tarantula to ogle at?"

The twins leave with an unsure, "See you later."

"That was bloody brilliant. I don't think I've ever seen Fred and George so put off," Ron exclaims.

Harry grins, "It's a specialty of hers."

Selena doesn't interrupt when Harry moves his hair to show Ron his scar. If he wants to make a friend based off the fact that he's famous then that's on him. She even manages to stop herself from making a snide comment when Ron asks about what Harry remembers from that Halloween night. Ron seems to come from an all wizard family, except for that second cousin accountant who might or might not have been banished for being a squib. Not that Ron would be aware of that. The redhead does get the courage to ask Harry how are the muggles they live with. This time Selena does interrupt, "None of your business." Harry takes that as his reason to not say anything. He can have a rather loose mouth but he doesn't actually want to say anything about what him and Selena have been through.

Ron talks about his life of having six other siblings, being the youngest boy means he gets all the hand-me-downs. Selena doesn't really understand Ron's predicament with his family, her and her brother have always been neglected by adults but they have each other. Still, she supposes that just because she doesn't understand them that doesn't mean that his feelings are wrong. She does think it's wrong though that Ron got a hand-me-down wand, Ollivander said that you won't get the best results with another wizard's wand. Wouldn't that effect his academics?

Harry and Ron have a conversation about their different pets: an owl and a rat. Selena and Harry are able to tell what Ron is about to say before he cuts himself off, but they don't think there's anything wrong with not being able to afford an owl. She thinks that talking about being poor with a family of nine is probably a too sensitive topic for Ron. Harry tells Ron that him and his sister hadn't known anything about the wizarding world until Professor McGonagall and Hagrid came.

"I'll probably be the worst one there. I'm not like Selena, I don't have a photographic memory."

Ron scrunches his face, "What's a photographic memory?"

"Well the Doctor called it eidetic but I like photographic. Basically she remembers everything."

"Wicked. She'll be top of the class for sure. I wouldn't worry about it if I were you though, there are loads of people who come from muggle families and they learn quickly enough."

Around twelve in the afternoon a dimpled woman slides back the compartment door, "Anything off the cart dears?" Harry, who always has a craving for sweets, looks pleadingly at his sister. She nods her head while rolling her eyes, only agreeing because she forgot to pack them lunch. Ron is muttering that he has sandwiches while Harry walks into the corridor. Selena never allowed Harry to use their savings to pay for sweets. She insisted on saving every penny in case they needed it. His sister gave him half of the money left over from the savings but he still felt compelled to ask her if it was okay or not seeing as most of the money was earned by her. Now he can buy as many Mars Bars as he can carry without feeling mildly guilty. But the lady doesn't have Mars Bars instead she has Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, and Licorice Wands among other things that Harry has never heard of. Harry grabs a little of everything and pays the woman eleven Sickles and seven Knuts, hardly making a dent into his money.

Ron stares at all the food Harry is carrying into the compartment, "Hungry are you?"

"Starving."

When Ron takes out his four sandwiches and comments that his mother has forgotten he doesn't like corned beef Selena takes them out of Ron's hand and hands two over to Harry. "You don't want those-"

Before he can say more the twins take a bite and hum in satisfaction. They really are quite good, if a bit dry. Selena has the sudden urge to meet his mother and learn all her secrets. "Go on," Harry tells Ron holding up a pasty.

Selena starts taking another bite of her second sandwich, "Ron, this is incredible. Tell your mum she's a goddess." Harry nods in agreement. Once the twins finish eating their sandwiches they join Ron in eating their way through all of the sweets Harry bought. Ron clarifies to them that the Chocolate Frogs aren't real frogs and have collectible cards in them. Harry unwraps the frog and picks up the card:

 _ALBUS DUMBLEDORE_

 _CURRENTLY HEADMASTER OF HOGWARTS_

 _Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling._

Selena is looking over Harry's shoulder and is just as shocked as Harry is when the man with the silver beard disappears from the card. Harry encourages Ron to eat all the Chocolate Frogs he wants while informing him that muggle photos don't move. Selena stays far away from the every flavor beans, she prefers to laugh at Harry's and Ron's misfortune.

The round-faced boy that Selena remembers as Neville appears in their compartment to ask if they have seen a toad. She advises him to ask Percy, Ron's brother, to help since he is a Prefect. Neville gives Selena a shy, thankful smile before going off- presumably to find Percy. Ron talks about how he attempted to use a spell the day before to make his pet rat Scabbers more interesting. He raises his wand to attempt again when a girl already wearing her Hogwarts robes comes into their compartment, "Has anyone seen a toad? A boy named Neville lost one." She has a bossy tone, bushy brown hair, and large front teeth.

"Selena already told him to get help from the Prefects," Ron tells her but the girl isn't listening to him.

"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it then."

Selena is not a fan of her almost condescending tone. She can't help but let her face fall into distaste when the girl sits next to her.

"Er- alright. _Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid fat rat yellow_ ," he waves his wand but nothing happens.

Just as the bushy-haired girl is about to open her mouth Selena speaks, "In our Magical Theory textbook it states that the foundation of all magic is intent. From that I can conclude the wording is to help you focus on what you want and the wand movements are to help channel your magic. So if you are focused enough you can do it without a wand but not many people can do that. Basically, everything can be a real spell. So when you say 'sunshine, daisies, butter mellow' focus on the color yellow and when you say 'turn this stupid fat rat yellow' you have to imagine Scabbers turning yellow. Go on."

Ron looks at the older twin with amazement. He tries again, " _Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid fat rat yellow._ " He waves his wand and Scabbers hair turns from grey to yellow without disturbing the rat from his sleep.

Ron is about to shower the female twin with thanks and compliments when the bushy-haired girl cuts him off, "Wow, I've tried a few simple spells like that and they've all worked for me. It was such a surprise when I got my letter, nobody in my family is magic at all. But I was ever so pleased, especially when I heard it's the very best school of witchcraft there is. I hope it will be enough that I have learned all of our course books by heart. I'm Hermione Granger by the way, who are you?" She says it all very fast.

Harry knows that his sister has every word from their textbook stored in her brain so he's rather relieved to see Ron's stunned faced. He isn't the only one who hasn't learned the course books by heart.

"I'm Ron Weasley."

"This is my twin sister Selena and I'm Harry Potter," Harry introduces the both of them when he sees his sister's face. Hermione has not made a good impression on her at all. It gets steadily worse as Hermione goes on about knowing all about Harry from three books she's read. Selena is definitely going to look those books up. She blabs on more about Gryffindor being the best house before finally leaving to go check on Neville, telling them to change into their robes before she leaves.

Selena steps out quickly to give the boys time to change and they do the same for her. "Uh, I don't know how to turn your rat back to grey," she informs Ron with slightly pink cheeks. He just waves her off, insisting that he can ask Fred and George to do it.

Ron says that all of his family has been in Gryffindor, "I don't know what they'll say if I'm not sorted into Gryffindor. Ravenclaw wouldn't be so bad, but imagine if they put me into Slytherin."

"Oh heck no!" Harry immediately pushes himself back into his seat at his twin's yell. "You wizards are so freaking ridiculous. So what if Voldemort was in the Slytherin house? That means that all of them are evil? What kind of logic is that! Think what you want Ronald Weasley but Harry Potter don't you dare!"

"O-Of course Moony!" Ron looks at Harry with terrified eyes and Harry shoots him a sympathetic look, being at the end of Selena's ire is something he avoids at all costs. She can be horribly vindictive. "Umm...What do your oldest brothers do?" Harry asks to save Ron. Apparently Ron's brother, Charlie, studies dragons. That definitely peaks the oldest twin's interest but she is still too worked up to be bothered to ask.

The news of Gringotts picks at Selena's mind, what could they possibly try to steal from there? The thought of Voldemort being behind it worries her although she can't really put her finger on why. After all he's dead, right?

While Selena continues to read more about the fascinating history of Hogwarts the boys talk about some sport called quidditch, she figures it's the wizard equivalent of football. Then the compartment door slides open and it takes all of Selena's self-control not to throw her book at the person who opened it. She gets rather angry when her focus on a book is broken. Harry knows this so he had instinctively ducked though she had never hit him before it was just reflex. The one time she had thrown it in Uncle Vernon's face was almost worth the month without food. Three boys enter the compartment and the Potter twins recognize the middle boy from Madam Malkin's. Selena rolls her eyes when she notices the boy's interest in Harry.

"They're saying that Harry Potter is in this compartment. It's you, is it?"

"Yes," Harry says while looking at the other two boys who were standing on either side of the pale boy like bodyguards.

"This is Crabbe and Goyle," he says without care, "And my name is Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

Ron unskillfully hides a snigger with a cough so Draco turns to look at him. "Think my name's funny do you? I don't need to ask who you are. Red hair, freckles, and hand-me-down robes, you must be a Weasley. My father told me all about the family who has more children than they can afford." Draco turns to Harry, "You'll find out that some wizarding families are better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there." He extends his hand to Harry.

Selena knows her brother more than anyone so it's obvious to her that Harry won't take kindly to Draco's comments about Ron. She also knows it's a great offense in the pureblood world to reject a handshake, but then again it is twice as rude to extend a hand to a family member of a pureblood house before extending a hand to the Heir or Head of House. And from the brief family histories in Nature's Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy Selena knows that the Malfoy family is very influential and that Lucius Malfoy is an ex-Death Eater who claimed to be under the influence of a mind controlling spell called _imperio_. That claim is hard to prove, therefore, she thinks it's best to just stay neutral towards the Malfoys until they reveal their true colors. But first she has to turn the tables on the Malfoy Heir.

The oldest twin slips herself in between Draco and Harry before her brother can insult the Malfoy. "Attempting to make a truce between the Malfoys and Potters but not with the Potter Heir? My, my, how unbecoming of the Malfoy Heir."

Draco blinks owlishly at her with his hand still extended, "And who are you?"

She, unashamedly, places her right hand with the two family rings in Draco's Hand. "Selena Potter, older twin sister of Harry Potter, Heiress of the House of Black and the House of Potter."

A pink tinge appears on Draco's cheeks, he realizes where he went wrong and finally recognizes her from the robe shop despite her eye color being different. Just as he has done many times before he bows slightly and places a small kiss on her knuckles. The rings on her finger mocking him. He stands up rod straight, there are so many things she can demand because of his offense.

With a seemingly innocent smile she claps her hands together, "Now I'm sure that this little indiscretion can be forgiven, quite a few people have expressed that they didn't know I existed so I bear no ill will. But maybe you should be a bit politer on how you describe my brother's friends." As she speaks she walks closer toward Draco, causing him and his posse to keep stepping back until they are out of the compartment. "The Potter family wishes to have a peaceful co-existence with the Malfoys but I will not hesitate to protect my brother and his friends." With that she turns around, her school robes dramatically turning with her, enters the compartment and shuts the door behind her. It takes a few seconds for the Malfoy heir to pick up his jaw from the floor and stalk off with embarrassment.

"She's amazing," Ron whispers to Harry. The youngest twin is smiling widely, he has always found his sister's antics amusing and fantastic. "I heard about the Malfoys from dad, they came back to our side when You-Know-Who disappeared, said they'd been bewitched. Dad reckons Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the dark side."

"I see." Selena says snappishly.

To increase Selena's ever pleasant mood Hermione comes back in, "What has been going on? You all haven't been fighting have you? You'll get in trouble before we even get there!"

"Oh for goodness sake! Can people not just come in here like if this was their compartment? Honestly, how rude!" The oldest twin looks at Hermione with an annoyed look before picking up her book to ignore her.

"Hmph! I only came here because people are behaving very childishly," she turns to Ron, "and you've got dirt on your nose, did you know?" Hermione storms out of the compartment.

"It's almost as if they aren't children!" Selena says mockingly once Hermione left. Harry and Ron snigger.

A voice echoes through the train, "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

Ron and Harry get up to stuff the rest of the sweets in their pockets and Selena notices that Ron's robes are too short, his sneakers can be seen underneath them. "Ron, Harry stand up straight." Ron looks paler than he did before and Harry looks like he is going to be sick. They notice with slight jealousy that Selena looks calm and collected although she too is quite nervous. "Now this is my first time trying these spells, I read about them in a book called Practical Household Magic. _Scourgify!_ " Their robes all become clean and freshly pressed, Ron's nose is now clear of dirt. She points at Ron's robes, " _Elongare!_ " Ron's robes elongate until they are the perfect length.

"Thanks," Ron tells her sincerely. Now with the three of them cleaned up and the two boys visibly more confident they join the crowd forming in the corridor.

The train slows down until it comes to a stop, grabbing their hands Selena leads them out onto a dark platform by pushing people out of their way. Ron's cheeks flush but the oldest Potter doesn't notice as she follows a familiar voice, "First' years over here!" Hagrid notices the twins and gives them a beaming smile when they come up to the front along with Ron. "Hiya Harry and Selena! All right now, c'mon, follow me. Mind yer' step now! Firs' years follow me!"

They follow Hagrid down a steep, narrow path that is pitch-black on either side of them, the three do not dare to let each other go. Selena, Harry, and Ron all look at each other with bright smiles when the path opens onto the edge of a black lake. The castle on the other side of the lake with sparkling windows and numerous towers can only be Hogwarts. "No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid yells. They go into a boat and when given a small smile of encouragement by Selena Neville joins them with his toad in his hand. Hermione sticks her nose up and finds another boat. All at once the fleet of boats carry them closer and closer to the cliff that holds the castle. Hagrid screams for them to put their heads down before they are carried through a dark tunnel, it seems like they are being taken underneath the castle. Finally, they reach a harbor where they clamber onto rocks and pebbles. They walk up a passageway to a flight of stone steps around an oak front door.

"Everyone here?" Hagrid raises his fist and knocks on the castle door three times.


	7. The Sorting Hat

The door swings open and standing there is Minerva McGonagall wearing emerald robes. She has on a very stern face but her lips twitch in a small smile when the twins wave at her. She thanks Hagrid for leading the first years to this point before pulling the door wide open. Selena and Harry take in the large entrance hall, stone walls lit by torches, high ceiling, and marble staircase that leads to the upper floors before following Professor McGonagall across the stone floor. They pass by a doorway to the right where hundreds of voices can be heard and walk into a small, empty chamber.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. Before the start-of-term banquet begins you will be sorted into your houses. The sorting is important because while you are here your house will be like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room. The four houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble traits, history, and has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts your triumphs will earn you house points, any rule-breaking will cost you house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting. I shall return when we are ready for you, please wait quietly." Minerva's eyes linger on Neville's incorrectly fastened cloak before leaving.

Selena takes the hint and quickly fastens it correctly before casting _scourgify_ on Neville's robes. With a pink face he thanks her. She notices that Harry is attempting to flatten his hair and snorts at him. He shoots her a glare. "How exactly do they sort us into the house?" Harry asks Ron.

"Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot but I think he was joking."

"I highly doubt it's a magical test, calm down Prince Harry. Professor McGonagall said that each house has its own noble traits so it probably has something to do with your personality."

Harry's nerves calm down quickly due to his sister's logic, deftly ignoring Hermione Granger's whispers of all the spells she learned and that she's not sure which one she needs. Nevertheless, he kept holding on to his sister's hand who was also keeping Ron's nerves calm by holding his hand. The three are feeling relatively cool and collected until people start screaming, causing all three of them to jump about one foot in the air. They gasp when they see about twenty ghosts glide through a brick wall. In all their pearl and transparent beauty they are arguing. The fat monk-looking one says something about second chances when he is interrupted.

The second ghost wearing ruff and tights tells the Friar, the first ghost, that they have given Peeves, presumably another ghost, many chances. The Fat Friar finally notices them, "New students! About to be sorted I suppose? Hope to see you in my old house, Hufflepuff!"

Professor McGonagall comes back and tells the ghosts to run off into the Great Hall. She turns to the first years and tells them to form a line. Selena gets in line with Harry and Ron behind her. In formation they walk out of the chamber, through a pair of double doors, and into the Great Hall. The Great Hall is lit by thousands of floating candles, there are four long table where the other students are sitting that are covered in golden plates and goblets. Minerva leads the first years to the top of the hall where the teachers are sitting. They are facing the other students and few ghosts with the teachers behind them. To avoid the staring eyes Harry looks up into the black ceiling dotted with stars. Hermione whispers she read in Hogwarts: A History that it's bewitched to look like the sky outside. Selena looks positively horrified that her and Hermione have read the same book.

Minerva places a stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool is a pointed, dirty, and old hat. There is nothing but silence until the brim of the hat opens wide and the hat begins to sing:

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve, and chivalry set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffs are true and unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

if you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I'm a Thinking Cap!"

Ron curses at his twin brothers and Harry offers him a weak smile, it seems like he is fighting nerves again. Selena squeezes both of their hands that she's been holding almost the entire time. They face her and she gives them a sincere smile. The kind that lifts her cheeks high enough to enunciate her laugh lines and her dimples. Harry feels instantly better, it's not often his sister smiles like that. Ron's cheeks flush and he squeezes back her hand gratefully.

Professor McGonagall steps forward holding a roll of parchment. "When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted. Abbott, Hannah!"

A girl with blonde pigtails stumbles out of the line and puts the hat on. "Hufflepuff!" Shouts the hat. The table to the right claps for her, even the Fat Friar is waving happily at her.

"Bones, Susan!"

"Hufflepuff!"

"Boot, Terry!"

"Ravenclaw!" The second table from the left clap for him.

"Brocklehurt, Mandy!"

"Ravenclaw!"

"Brown, Lavender!"

"Gryffindor!" The table on the far left explodes with cheers and the three can see Ron's twin brothers hooting.

"Bulstrode, Millicent!"

"Slytherin!" The table from the far right clap for her. It might just be Harry's imagination but he thinks they do look rather unpleasant.

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"

"Hufflepuff!"

"Finnigan, Seamus!"

"Gryffindor!"

The twins notice that sometimes it takes the hat seconds to decide and others a minute or so.

"Granger, Hermione!" Hermione almost runs to the stool and jams the hat on her head. Selena does not resist rolling her eyes, the display is just so telling.

"Gryffindor!" The hat yells and when Ron groans Selena sniggers.

"Shut up Selena," he grumbles to her. This causes the twins to laugh quietly to themselves.

"Longbottom, Neville!"

The hat takes a while to decide before shouting, "Gryffindor!"

Selena whoops loudly, "Go Neville!" He turns gaping at her with surprise, almost all of the Great Hall has their eyes on her. "Can't I just cheer on a mate?" She says cheekily. Whispers start going throughout the hall questioning who the girl is. Hagrid catches her eyes and he gives her a large thumbs up which she heartily returns. While sending Hagrid back a thumbs up she notices another teacher, who reminds her of Dracula, staring at her with the same look she sometimes sees in her Aunt Petunia's eyes- grief.

She would have missed Malfoy's sorting completely if he didn't bump into her as he was walking up to the stool. "Slytherin!" The hats yells barely even touching his head. Draco goes to join his friends Crabbe and Goyle. The sorting goes from Moon, Nott, Parkinson, double the Patil, to Perks until "Potter, Harry!" Whispers spread through the Great Hall again, even more so when they connect Selena from her outburst earlier to Harry. It's obvious to everyone now, that Harry Potter is here and not only that but he has a twin!

"Difficult, very difficult," a small voice says in Harry's ear. "There's talent, not a bad mind either. A thirst to prove yourself but not to the world, to your sister. To prove that you can can stand on your own. And at the same time so courageous...This is interesting. Better be-"

"Gryffindor!" The sorting hat yells out to the Great Hall.

Harry walks toward the Gryffindor table, hardly noticing that he is getting the loudest cheer yet as he waits eagerly for his sister to be called. Percy Weasley the Prefect gets up to shake his hand while the twins are yelling, "We got a Potter! We got a Potter!" Harry sits down next to the ghost from earlier, the one with the ruff and tights, who pats his arm giving Harry a terrible wave of cold. But his lack of heat is ignored when, "Potter, Selena!"

Selena walks to the hat in no rush and gently places it on her head. "Oh! How very interesting!" A small voice which she presumes is the hat says to her. "So much knowledge, it's been quite a while since I've sorted someone with eidetic memory. The last one was a Ravenclaw but you are quite different. You're not learning for the enjoyment but in case you'll ever need it. And you remember! I see...How tragic for you young Potter. Nonetheless, with your mind there is only one place for you to go-"

"Slytherin!"

The whole hall is quiet, all of them were expecting for her to join her brother in Gryffindor or maybe she would have been sorted into Hufflepuff, but the twin sister of Harry Potter in Slytherin? Selena doesn't mind the lack of applause instead she turns to her brother and shoots him a salute in see you later. Her brothers gives her a salute back so she turns around to walk to the Slytherin table. She sits at the very end of the table, the side facing the left.

McGonagall clears her throat to continue the sorting. A tall black boy named Dean Thomas is sorted into Gryffindor. Lisa Turnip is sorted in Ravenclaw and finally it's Ron's turn. He seems a bit paler now, his eyes are shifting from the Gryffindor table to the Slytherin table and Selena is rather curious about what can possibly be on his mind. The hat lays on Ron's head for a second before yelling, "Gryffindor!"

Harry claps loudly and notices that his sister is also clapping loudly. The rest of her house is looking at her strangely and the youngest Potter feels a lurch of worry for his sister. Her house doesn't seem very friendly toward her. The last person on the list, Blaise Zabini, is sorted into Slytherin and Harry's thoughts about his sister are wiped away when he realizes how hungry he is.

Blaise sits next to Selena which she find strange, the rest of the Slytherin have been treating her like if she has a disease. She decides to ignore him when she notices a man standing up from the center of the High Table. She recognizes him instantly as Albus Dumbledore from Harry's chocolate card. He beams at all of the students, "Welcome! Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"

Selena snorts, unimpressed, while getting out her copy of Hogwarts: A History. "He's off his bloody rocker," she mutters. Blaise snorts at Selena's comment and offers her a small smirk when she looks at him with a questioning eyebrow, maybe Zabini isn't so bad.

A series of dishes appear on the table, she hides her surprise and elegantly serves herself a small portion of roast beef with fries, using the table manners she asked her Aunt to teach her after she learned she is heiress. Selena is use to small portions, taking away their food privileges is Vernon's favorite way of punishing them, so she doesn't stack her plate up high like her twin is doing across the hall.

As she eats her roast beef and looks at her book she begins to wonder why her Aunt allows her husband to treat them that way. Selena can remember the times when their Aunt Petunia wouldn't punish them for their accidental magic, if Uncle Vernon wasn't there to witness it, and they were all so clearly caused by magic- especially that incident with Harry and the sweater. She also ponders, not for the first time, if the abuse they suffered would have been as bad if there was only one of them. Being forced to raise one child is far different from being forced to raise two children. Sometimes these thoughts would make her want to run away but the obscurity of whether it would actually give Harry a better life or just make him their sole target forced her to stay.

It isn't until dessert gets served that she finally lifts her head from her book and notices the occasional looks being thrown at her. The most coming from the pug-faced girl she remembers as Pansy Parkinson and Draco. "I can get you a picture if you'd like," Selena drawls as she casually grabs a treacle tart and goes back to reading her book.

Across the hall, Harry is starting to feel warm and sleepy until a wave of emptiness hits him. This is the first time in his whole life he won't be sharing a bed with his sister. He shakes the feeling off when sees his twin hiding a smirk in her book while Blaise Zabini is giving her an amused one. It's just for the school year, they'll go home for the holidays and it will just be like how they always have been. Harry's eyes look all around the hall and pass Professor Quirrell's turban as he's talking to a teacher with greasy black hair, a hooked nose, and sallow skin. The same teacher who reminded Selena of Dracula earlier. A sharp, hot pain shoots through Harry's scar.

He cries a bit in pain and automatically his sister is on her feet looking at him with worry while clutching her own forehead. The pain leaves as soon as it comes but it's hard to shake off because it bewilders him that his sister felt it too. With a look Selena asks him if he needs her help or something. Harry shakes his head to tell her no so she sits back down. He gets a bad feeling from the teacher Quirrell had been talking to, it seems like he doesn't like Harry at all.

Selena sits back down with her brows scrunched up, not thinking about the table of snakes looking at her, but the pain that shot through her head yet did not feel like her own. "What was that?" Blaise asks her.

She turns to the dark-skinned boy with golden eyes, "I don't know. I think Harry's scar just burned. I felt it too though."

"Maybe it's that weird twin sense?"

"Yeah, our twin sense."

The desserts disappear and Professor Dumbledore stands on his feet again. "First years and older students should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. I have also been asked by caretaker Mr. Filch to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors," his eyes seem to be looking at the Weasley twins. "Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

Very few students laugh and Selena looks at Blaise, "He's freaking mad!"

Dumbledore encourages them to sing the school song that Selena and many other Slytherins refuse to do. She's positive that whoever thought of the lyrics were clearly drunk. Almost everybody finishes at different times, except for the twins who continue singing to a slow funeral march. Selena will admit to finding their antics funny. The Headmaster finally dismisses them and the first-year Slytherins are told to follow their Prefects. They walk to the lowest levels of the castle that Selena can only refer to as the dungeons. "Hungarian Horntail," a Prefect says to a wall that slides open to reveal the entrance to the common room. "The girls dorms are on the left and the boys are on the right. Your dorms have your name on a plaque and your things have been placed on the foot of the beds."

She tells Blaise goodnight and he bids her the same. She finds her dorm easily enough and is the first one there. She does note that her roommates are Millicent Bulstrode, Pansy Parkinson, and Daphne Greengrass. She sees her trunk set on the foot of the bed closest to the door. By the time the other girls come in Selena's curtains are pulled and she is attempting to go to sleep. Her bed seems far too cold.

In a tower elsewhere, Harry is having a nightmare where his sister is wrapped in Professor Quirrell's turban and it just keeps squeezing her tighter and tighter. Harry keeps desperately trying to pull the wrap apart as a raspy voice says, "She's one of us Harry. She will betray you Harry. It is in her nature Harry." Then Malfoy comes along with Snape. They cast a spell on him forcing Harry to raise his arm, with a wave a blinding green light shoots from the tip of Harry's wand. The turban finally unwraps from his twin but she falls over. Harry kneels down to his sister's body and sees that the same green eyes he has are dull. Harry wakes up sweating and shaking with tears rolling down his cheeks. He grabs his second pillow and after calming down he is able to fall asleep again. When he wakes up the next morning he isn't able to remember the dream at all.

Selena doesn't go to sleep that night instead she uses the moonlight coming from reflection of the Black Lake to write her brother a letter she will never send.


	8. Intermission: Letter 1

_Sept. 2 1991_

 _My Prince Harry,_

 _Yesterday was our first day at Hogwarts. Tonight is our first time sleeping in different beds. It feels weird doesn't it? And cold. I bet you're probably dead asleep by now. I always have problems sleeping. Not that you know that. There are a lot of things I hide from you Harry. I hide the bruised ribs and sprained wrists so that you don't see the full extent of Uncle Vernon's anger and for you not to feel guilty when I protect you from your mouth. I know you won't accept my help if you saw them and I also know you won't understand that to me your life is first and mine is second. I haven't told you about my plan to get us out of the Dursley's house. I won't tell you about the struggles I am most likely going to be facing in Slytherin._

 _Before I had thought that it was just a recurring nightmare but it ended up being reality. Hagrid was right when he said we look like our father, he told us he loved us before going downstairs and getting killed. Mother held you close when a crashing sound came from downstairs._

" _You're so loved Harry._

 _I love you Harry._

 _Selena loves you Harry._

 _We will protect you Harry._

 _I will protect you Harry._

 _Selena will protect you Harry."_

 _She whispered into your ear before putting you down next to me. The door of the nursery crashed and she turned around. Voldemort told her to step aside but she refused so he killed her. Voldemort had a nose like a snake and red slitted eyes, he was no longer human. He looked at me._

" _The extra," he sneered. "The prophecy said it would be a boy so you are useless."_

 _He looked at you and without a word just pointed his bone colored wand at you. "Avada kedavra!" I cried as the green light from his wand hit you in the forehead but then we were encompassed in gold light and the green light shot back to Voldemort. With a horrific screech he died._

 _That's the only thing I remember from our first four years of life. Our young father telling us he loved us. Our young Mother getting killed. You being chained by destiny._

 _I won't tell you that I remember everything that happened that Halloween night._

 _I won't tell you that everything I do is to protect you Harry._

 _Hopelessly devoted to you,_

 _Selena Potter_


	9. The Potions Master

Almost half-way through the first book :)

* * *

Selena stays up and in the early morning she decides that trying to get any sleep now is meaningless. She starts getting dressed and mechanically goes through the motions of covering her dark circles with some concealer and translucent powder she started investing in when her brother once commented on them. She manages to find her way to the Great Hall by asking a portrait politely for directions. She continues to use the portraits to find her way to her classes. After her classes and dinner, she explores Hogwarts taking note of all the passages and doors. She hopes to have a mental map of the school.

All in all, she doesn't spend more time around the Slytherins than she must. She leaves the dorm before anyone wakes up, eats breakfast and leaves when she's done, enters class at the last moment possible, and doesn't return to the common room until curfew. Blaise never fails to save her a seat next to him for class or lunch or dinner. They have a friendship of sorts.

Selena has already guessed that there will be a lot more to magic than just waving a wand and saying a few words. Otherwise, they wouldn't have a school for magic.

Herbology isn't really her forte as she doesn't care very much for digging in the dirt. Also, Harry was the one Aunt Petunia would force to do the yard work. Selena has read the Herbology textbook and other books on trees and plants but they don't really help when it comes to practice. She's decent enough to pass and hopes to use all of her homework and tests to bump the grade to an A or an Outstanding in wizard terms. If it gets too hard she can always ask Professor Sprout for tutoring.

The Charms teacher, Professor Flitwick, is a tiny man who has to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. Selena doesn't think that the pile of books seems stable. She also isn't very sure if her apparent knack for cleaning spells will apply to charms as well.

Professor McGonagall is as strict as Selena thinks she is. She gives them a warning about messing around in Transfiguration before drawing their attention by changing her desk into a pig and back again. Selena thinks the display is awfully clever as immediately everyone is eager to learn. First, they take notes and then they are given a match to turn into a needle. By the end of their lesson, Selena is the only one successful in turning her match into a needle. Professor McGonagall gives her a smile and fifteen points to Slytherin.

History of Magic is another class where her eidetic memory comes in handy. Selena has the whole book in her head so taking a nap during his class doesn't do any harm. Blaise doesn't fall asleep although she can tell he wants to. She has a feeling that he's waiting for their first test so that he can be incredibly smug about her falling asleep in class. How unfortunate for him.

Astrology comes to her easily since it's just memorizing the names of the stars and the movement of the planets. Selena swears that if she were a better person she would feel incredibly guilty for the advantage her eidetic memory gives her, but she isn't so she doesn't.

Selena wasn't impressed in the slightest when she first met Professor Quirrell but she doesn't think Defense Against the Dark Arts will be too bad. That is until she enters his classroom and it smells of garlic, supposedly to ward off vampires which Selena doesn't believe even works. Apparently, his turban was given to him by an African prince as a thank you for getting rid of a zombie. Selena is doubtful that zombies exist even in the magical world. His turban smells strange and he stutters too much to be understood.

By the end of his class on Thursday, she has a headache from concentrating too hard on what Professor Quirrel was trying to say. "I think I have a bloody headache," she moans as she lays her head on Blaise's shoulder while they walk.

"Get off of me, you smell like garlic," he pushes her off.

She glares at him, "If I smell like garlic, you smell like garlic."

Blaise takes a whiff of his sleeve, "Ugh you're right. I thought the smell was especially bad today."

"We still have three classes left today! There's no way I'll be able to take a nap in History of Magic like this! Oh! Wait!" Selena takes out her wand and casts _scourgify_ on both her and Blaise.

"Selena, you're a goddess," Blaise tells her with a charming smirk. Though on a eleven-year-old boy it just looks cute.

She pinches his cheek, "It's part of my name, of course I am!" She's runs off to who knows where for the remaining twelve minutes of the break. Blaise can only shake his head at her as she leaves. He also thinks it's best that she hang around their housemates as little as possible.

On Friday morning, Selena actually wakes up later than the rest of her house and is the last Slytherin to enter the Great Hall. It's the first time all week that Harry has managed to lay a good eye on his sister. She often disappears from the Great Hall as fast as she comes.

"So what do we got today?" Harry asks Ron while pouring sugar on his porridge.

"Double Potions with the Slytherins. Snape's Head of House of the Slytherins and they are rumors that he always favors him, we'll see if it's true."

"Wish McGonagall favored us...Umm...Do you think Selena will sit with us?"

Ron frowns at his breakfast, "I dunno. Would be up to her I guess. She doesn't seem to get on too well with the other snakes, well, except for Zabini."

Harry nods in agreement, every time he manages to catch a glimpse of his twin in the Great Hall she always streamlines to Blaise. Just then hundreds of owls stream into the Great Hall carrying boxes, parcels, and letters. It gave Harry a bit of shock the first morning but he's use to it now. Hedwig hasn't brought him anything so far but she does come to visit. However, today she lands on the table just between the marmalade and sugar to drop a note by Harry's plate. He immediately rips it open.

 _Dear Harry,_

 _I know you get Friday afternoons off, so would you and your sister like to come and have a cup of tea with me around three?_

 _I want to hear all about your week. Send us an answer back with Hedwig._

 _Hagrid_

Using Ron's quill he scribbles:

 _Yes please, we will see you later._

He sends the note back with Hedwig.

"I'll be right back," Harry tells Ron before getting up to walk across the hall to tell Selena of Hagrid's invitation. When he arrives behind his sister, her back is facing Gryffindor table this time, he sees a beautiful grey owl in front of her.

Selena turns around when Blaise taps her shoulder and points behind her, "Oh! Harry look! Mr. Vamish sent me the bank statement of last month and a list of all the shares the Potter and Black families hold. He even gave us keys to the estates although I'm not sure if we're able to enter yet."

Harry takes the letter she is handing to him:

 _Dear Ms. Potter,_

 _As Heiress to the House of Potter and Black with no living Head it is protocol to send the last month and all future monthly bank statements to you. I have also enclosed the keys to all Potter and Black properties, a list of their properties, the bank statement of August, and a list of shares held by the two families._

 _Because there is no Head, you, as the heiress are able to control where the family money goes when it pertains to investments but you are not able to withdrawal or transfer money from the family accounts._

 _On a different note, I am unsure if you have an owl to do your personal correspondence with but I do hope you will accept this magnificent Great Grey Owl as a gift from us in the Goblin Nation. Word has spread among my people of a polite pureblood heir who goes by the name Selena Potter. Bear in mind, it is not just your politeness that has caught the attention of my people but your quick wit and readiness to take your role. The Head of Goblins requested that I give you one of the most beautiful owls as a symbol of our friendship. She is yours to name. You are always welcomed here or at any branch of Gringotts, Ms. Potter._

 _Cordially,_

 _Mr. Vamish_

 _Banker of Gringotts, London Branch_

"Moony I think your forgot to mention that Gringotts gave you an owl?" He says incredulously.

She smiles at him, the one that isn't so wide because she isn't comfortable enough in her setting to smile with her dimples but is meant just for him. Only he is able to tell that she is in high spirits, to another she seems simply content.

"What are you going to name her?"

Selena gently pets her unnamed owl, "She is awfully beautiful. I've read about these owls before. Do you know that they're not as large as they appear? The fluffiness of their feathers gives them a large appearance. In Sikhism, there is a concept that events are real but the aftereffects aren't. This is known as 'maya' and because of this concept along with others similar to it maya is defined as illusion. I think it suits her, don't you?"

While Harry has, quite frankly, no idea what his twin is talking about he nods. Selena always gets this excited smile on her face when she speaks about something she read. It brings out a certain beauty from her and going by the slight flush on the nearby males' faces, including Draco and Blaise, he isn't the only one who notices this. "Brilliant as always." Selena grins, the comforting presence of her twin causing her to forget the stares. "Hagrid invited us for tea at his around three."

Selena gathers everything that came in the envelope and throws it into her school bag before getting up. "Alright, I'll meet you at the courtyard then? I'm going to go take these up to my room. Oh, I almost forgot!" She steals the piece of bacon Blaise held in his hand and feeds it to Maya.

"I was eating that."

"Well, now Maya is eating it." She says flatly and turns to coo at the owl, telling it to go up to the owlery with a promise that she will visit later. Maya hoots and nips affectionately at Selena's fingers before flying away. "See you both in a bit!" The oldest twin says before leaving.

"Is she always so...weird? She goes from quiet and sarcastic to chirpy and affectionate so quickly." Blaise asks Harry.

Harry snorts, "That's all you've seen of her? Here's a tip, don't get her angry." He walks back to the Gryffindor table and Blaise decides to take that advice to heart.

Potions takes place down in one of the dungeons, quite close to the Slytherin common room but Selena still somehow manages to arrive at the last possible second. Severus Snape starts class by taking roll and pauses at Harry's name. "Ah, yes," he says softly, "Harry Potter. Our new celebrity." He drawls out celebrity almost mockingly.

"We also have Selena Potter, how fun must it be to be the older twin of the Boy-Who-Lived." He doesn't say it mockingly but Selena knows that he didn't mean it positively. Going by Draco's, Grabbe's, and Goyle's sniggers they know as well.

When Harry sees his sister's eyes narrow he smirks, there's no way she's going to keep quiet.

Snape finishes roll call and looks up at the class with cold black eyes, "You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making." He speaks in a whisper but they hear every word. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you to really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses...I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death- if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

His over dramatic statement, in Selena's opinion, is followed by silence. From her seat next to Blaise she can see that Hermione is sitting on the edge of her seat with a quite desperate look on her face. She rolls her eyes.

"Potter!" Snape says suddenly as he snaps his head in the direction of Harry. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Hermione's hand shoots up into the air. Selena sighs when she sees her brother's stumped face, she clearly remembers reading that passage out loud. Apparently, he does not.

"I don't know, sir," her brother says with slight shame.

Snape sneers, "Tut, tut, fame clearly isn't everything."

And that's the line for Selena. "'Adding powdered root of asphodel, specifically 150 fl oz, to an infusion of wormwood creates a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of the Living Death. It is an extremely dangerous potion that must be executed with maximum caution and is taught to N.E.W.T. students,' that's what the textbook says. Very briefly mentioned for the sake of showing how powerful a potion can be. Hardly something a first year needs to remember for this class, don't you agree sir?" She spits out the word sir with as much malice as she can muster. Her own face making an on spot impression of her Aunt Petunia when she smells something bad.

Snape looks at her, his face contorted into a angry scowl. "And do tell me, Miss Potter, when did I give you permission to speak?"

"Well you just said 'Potter' without stating specifically which one of us you were talking to. Ergo, I assumed you were addressing the both of us. Harry gave his answer so it was time for me to give mine. Unless, you only called out Potter without specifics just for the sake of being dramatic with no intention to ask a question that's actually relevant to the class so that you could belittle an eleven-year-old boy. But that would just be ridiculous, no self-respecting Professor would stoop so low," she finishes with a condescending smirk.

There's a loud silence blanketing the classroom. Selena's smirk never leaving her face, Harry forcing himself not to laugh, and the rest of the students in shock. Snape's face is pale, deathly pale, his nostril flared out enhancing his crooked nose and his lips so thin Selena suspects he's holding in a shriek. He abruptly turns away and smacks the blackboard by his desk, "Here are the instructions for a simple cure to boils. Begin," he whispers the words with such intensity that Selena definitely knows he's trying to rein in his anger.

"I'll get the ingredients," she chirps to Blaise, skipping away as if she did not just humiliate a grown ass man.

Thing are neither good nor bad from then on. As they are weighing the dried nettles and crushing the snake fangs, Snape walks around but refrains from commenting on anything, almost like he's trying to prove something to himself. Selena does her work with an aura of confidence and keeps an eye out for any mistakes her brother might make. She hums to herself as she moves Blaise's cauldron away from the fire and prepares the porcupine needles so that Blaise can stir as she puts them in. Checking on Harry again, she sees Neville preparing the needles and notices he hasn't taken Seamus's cauldron off the heat yet. Without saying anything she moves the cauldron just before Neville tries to add the needles to it. "You have to take it off the heat first," she reprimands him slightly.

Him and Seamus wince. "S-Sorry Selena, t-thanks," Neville tells her.

She rolls her eyes with a slight twitch of the lips, "Just saving Seamus's cauldron and everybody's shoes and probably you if the potion had spilled all over you."

Neville blanches, "I-I'll double check the b-board from now on."

"Good idea!" She nods and walks away.

They are dismissed from class just in time for lunch. Harry looks around for his sister in the hallway but she disappears and by the time she shows up for lunch Harry had forgotten what he wanted to say. At the end of their last class of the day, Ron walks with Harry for a while as Harry walks to the courtyard to meet with his sister.

"Harry," Ron says to his friend and for some reason it makes Harry stop.

"Ron?"

"Err...I think you should tell your sister to be careful when it come to Snape. I heard he can turn very nasty."

Harry rolls his eyes, "Tell her yourself. You're really gonna let that Slytherin bias get to you? She's my sister, it's not like you can avoid her. Moony probably didn't sit with us in the only class I have with her because she doesn't want you to feel uncomfortable. She taught you how to cast a spell when Hermione was about to make fun of you for it not being a real spell. She held your hand to help calm your nerves and you said it yourself that she doesn't seem to get along with the other Slytherins. Selena is cunning and resourceful and ambitious but she's not evil and the day she turns evil is the day I don't know anything about her. That's not going to happen because she's my twin, the other half of my soul, so I know her better than anyone."

Ron feels quite ashamed of himself by the end of Harry's touching speech. He knows that Selena doesn't fit into the evil, slimy Slytherin stereotype that had been ingrained in his mind since childhood but it's such a dramatic shift he didn't quite know what to do so he avoided her. Obviously, Selena isn't the first one to be sorted into Slytherin that didn't fit into the stereotype so lately he's been pondering on how long the word evil was synonymous with Slytherin and how much it affects the atmosphere of the school. He feels guilty for _always_ recoiling from anything remotely Slytherin which included Selena the moment she was sorted there, even though he knows she isn't like that. "C-Can I come and meet Hagrid with you?"

Harry smiles.

Ron and Harry have been waiting for Selena for about five minutes when she finally comes running towards them, "Harry! Oh my god I'm so sorry! I was with Maya and there's so many different types of owls there I just had to look at them all."

Harry shakes his head while chuckling. So typical Moony.

"Oh," Selena's face falls slightly when she sees Ron but swiftly lifts it back into a smile before they can notice. "Hiya Ron! I didn't know you were coming but the more the merrier, right?"

Ron nods with an awkward smile, not really sure where he and Selena stand.

"We better get a move on then!" She says and walks across the school grounds towards a small wooden house on the edge of the forbidden forest.

Selena knocks on the door. In a few seconds, Hagrid face appears as he opens the door. "Harry! Selena! And a friend! Hang on, gotta get Fang."

He lets the trio in while keeping a hold on an enormous black boarhound. Selena immediately kneels before the dog and starts petting it. Fang stops fighting Hagrid. Instead he sits with content as Selena gives him affection. Hagrid smiles as he drops his grip on Fang's collar, "Make yer'selves at home."

"This is Ron," Harry tells Hagrid.

Hagrid pours water into a kettle to boil and places some lumps on a plate. "Another Weasley, eh? I spent half me life chasin' yer' twin brothers away from the forest."

The lumps are supposed to be cakes with raisins in them but they they are as hard as rocks. Nevertheless, Ron and Harry pretend to enjoy them. Selena is still fawning over Fang as the two boys tell Hagrid about their first lessons.

"And how 'bout potions? I remember yer' mum was good at it."

At the mention of potions Selena sneers, "That greasy git of Professor we have hates Harry for some stupid reason, probably, and tried to talk down on him."

"Rubbish! Why would he?" Hagrid says with doubt.

"I don't care why but if he does it again trust me I won't be as kind as I was today," she glares at the floorboards and Fang whines because he can sense her anger.

"That was you being kind?" Ron asks slightly horrified.

Selena's mouth curls into a menacing smile, "Anything he dishes out I can give back ten fold."

Hagrid looks quite afraid for Selena, "What did you tell Snape?"

Harry can't help but smile, "It's probably best you don't know Hagrid. With you being on the faculty you might have to give her detention. But Moony does have a way with words, she made one of Dudley's friends cry ones. He moved schools after that."

Ron and Hagrid look simultaneously terrified and impressed. "Er...How's yer' brother Charlie? I liked him alot- great with animals." Hagrid says, obviously changing the subject.

For a while, Hagrid and Ron talk about Charlie's work with dragons. Selena listens in closely, still petting Fang. Harry picks up a clipping of newspaper that was lying under the table.

 _GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST_

 _Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown._

 _Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day._

 _"But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon._

"Hagrid! Selena! The Gringotts break-in happened on the day of our birthday, maybe while we were there!"

Hagrid doesn't say anything about the break in. Selena just shrugs it off, though in her head she thinks of how lucky they were. Harry reads the story. Apparently the vault that was broken into was emptied out earlier that day. Hagrid took out a grubby little package from vault seven hundred and thirteen, emptying it in the process. Harry wonders if that is what the thieves were looking for.

All three leave with rock cakes in their pockets. Selena leaves the two boys saying that Blaise is making her actually walk with him to dinner. Harry's mind is buzzing with question. Did Hagrid collect the package just in time? Where is it now? And does Hagrid know something about Snape?


	10. The Midnight Duel

Officially halfway there! Please leave reviews, I want to read your thoughts!

* * *

Selena, once again, pulls an allnighter. This time she is pouring over the documents Mr. Vamish sent her. She learns some very important information. From Nature's Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy, she knows that pretty much all purebloods are related in some complicated and distant way. Because of her status as Heiress for the House of Black, she knows that her closest relatives are the Blacks. From the bank statements, she learns there are only three Blacks left as each one has a sub-account in their name where they can access their inheritance. Now, Selena doesn't care about her relatives as they obviously hadn't cared for her and Harry, but one name stands out to her. Narcissa Malfoy née Black, obviously related to Draco and most likely his mother. Compared to Bellatrix Lestrange née Black and Sirius Black Selena finds Narcissa much more interesting, even with Sirius's account being suspiciously empty.

She doesn't know anything about Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy but the fact that the Black family is in some way, maybe insignificantly, responsible for the support of the matriarch gives her leverage over them. After all, a family of wealth and purity would not want any amount of their finances to be affected by a half-blood orphan. It's a matter of pride that all the pure-blood supremacist families undoubtedly share and with the Black family's money she will put them in line. Selena is tired of having to hide from her housemates and this is the information she needs to ensure fear among them. Once she gets that done then maybe she can finally start figuring out exactly how she came to be Heiress of the Black family.

On her way to breakfast, Selena takes a quick look at the notice pinned up on the wall by the entrance of the common room. Apparently they will be having flying lessons starting on Thursday with the Gryffindors. She can only hope that they will be as stiffly quiet as potions is. Ever since her little beat down on the first day no one has dared to speak, even Snape only speaks when he is giving lectures. She thinks that everytime he sees her he has to keep his anger in check. It highly amuses her.

At breakfast Blaise whispers to her, "There's been talk going around, mostly Malfoy, that you aren't as tough as you make yourself out to be. Hiding was good for a while because the rest of the Slytherins didn't really know what to think of you, but now with Malfoy not being able to keep his mouth shut they are starting to look down on you."

She smirks, "Good thing I'm tired of hiding. Don't worry, I've got something."

Blaise smirks back.

Selena looks at the Gryffindor table to see a commotion happen between Neville and Draco. It is swiftly dealt with by Professor McGonagall. Selena doesn't understand why Draco can't leave the poor boy alone.

Blaise and Selena arrive at the field where their flying lesson is being held with the other Slytherins. The whole trip there they had to listen to Draco rattle on and on about how great of a flier he is. Selena can't believe it's taken her this long to realize how annoying the boy is. The two friends are excited for the lesson. It's been awhile since Blaise has been on a broom and Selena never has. He promises to help her and she has never been more grateful to have him as a friend. It wouldn't help her current situation at all if she flew into a tree.

The Gryffindors arrive a bit later than them and when she sees her brother Selena waves to him in greeting. He grants her a wide smile. A woman with short gray hair and yellow hawk-like eyes comes. She instructs them to stand by one of the twenty broomsticks lying on the ground. "Stick out your right hand over your broom," yells Madame Hooch, "and say 'Up!'"

Harry's and Selena's brooms immediately jump into their hands. They look up at each other with proud and excited grins. Others aren't as lucky as them. Hermione's is just rolling over and Neville's hasn't moved. Ron's smacks him on the forehead. The twins snigger at their friend. The ginger glares at them both. He gets over it pretty quickly and chortle along with Harry, Selena, and Blaise when Madame Hooch tells Draco he's been griping his broom wrong for years.

"Now, when I blow my whistle you kick off from the ground, hard. Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle three, two-"

Neville pushes up off of the ground before Madame Hooch blows on the whistle. She yells at him to come back but Neville shoots up into the air screaming in fear. His scream gives Selena the impulse to jump on her broom and help him, so she does.

"Selena!" Harry yells at his sister but she's already out of his range.

She fights against the air as she pushes the broom all she can to reach Neville. She sees him begin to fall and somehow gets the old school broom to go even faster although it is vibrating violently in her hands. She manages to catch up to Neville and grab him by the waist. The momentum pushes them sideways and causes her to lose control. Selena sees that they are heading into one of the walls of the castle. Thinking quickly, she grabs her wand from her waist holster, points at the wall and yells, " _SPONGIFY!_ "

They hit the wall and bounce off harmlessly. The landing to the floor would have been like getting knocked off her feet if Neville hadn't landed on top of Selena. She pushes him off with a groan. Neville quickly jumps to his feet to check if she is okay, "Selena! I-I'm so sorry! A-Are y-you alright?" He's sniffling and it's obvious that he is still in panic.

Selena smiles at him gently, "Don't ask me that when you're the one crying."

Suddenly, Neville is nudged to the side by her twin who kneels down to bring her into a fierce hug. "Moony!"

She pats his arm, "I'm fine! I'm fine! Honestly!"

Blaise also appears out of the blue, "You're fine because you're a menace with magic! But _honestly_ , that was a stupid thing to do! You've never been on a broom before, you could have easily ended up like Longbottom!"

"Er..? I'm sorry, I guess. Well not really, I mean, you saw how fast he was falling and he sounded really scared. Besides, he's my friend, I needed to help him."

"Ms. Potter! Mr. Longbottom!" Madame Hooch comes running with the rest of the class behind her. She quickly checks on both of them to see if they had harmed anything. She's satisfied that they have no injuries but she will be sending them to Madame Pomfrey just to be safe. "That was a foolish thing to do Ms. Potter, a very foolish thing...but it was also incredibly brave of you and I don't think I've ever witnessed such quick thinking in my life. Twenty-five points to Slytherin and I highly recommend you try out for Chaser next year Ms. Potter, that was quite the catch."

"Thank you Madame Hooch," Selena says with surprise. She tries to get up from the ground but grows woozy and faints. Harry and Blaise manage to catch her before she can hit the ground.

"Oh dear, she could have a concussion." Madame Hooch brings the older twin into her arms, "None of you is to move while I take Ms. Potter and Mr. Longbottom to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say Quidditch." She looks at Neville who is still shaking, "Come on dear."

As soon as they leave Malfoy sneers, "Of course filthy half-blood Potter would help that great lump." The other Slytherins nod in agreement with Draco, angry scowls on their face.

"Shut up, Malfoy," Blaise snaps.

"Got a crush, Blaise?" Pansy Parkinson smirks, "Or are you after her money? Even your mother never stooped so low for galleons."

Before Blaise can reply back Malfoy snatches something from the floor, "Look! It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him." In his hand he is holding a glass marble that is filled with white smoke, known as a remembrall because the smoke changes color when the holder has forgotten something.

"Give that here, Malfoy." Harry says with gritted teeth, still seething over what the pale blonde said about his twin.

Draco smiles nastily, "I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find. How about up a tree?"

Harry calls for Draco to hand the remembrall but he's already in the air. By the top branches of a large oak tree, Malfoy calls out Harry to come after him. Harry jumps onto the broom, paying no mind to Hermione who tries to tell him he will get in trouble. Like his twin, flying comes to Harry naturally. The feeling of the wind whipping his hair and robes gives him a rush. He pulls the broomstick to go up higher and turns it sharply so that he is facing Draco. The heir is stunned. "Give it here or I'll knock you of your broom!" Harry yells.

Harry tries to get the remembrall back from Draco, with movements his body does naturally, but Malfoy dodges. The youngest Potter twin taunts Draco saying that he has no body guards up in the air with him. In response, the Malfoy heir throws the glass ball into the air and flies back to the ground. Harry gathers speed and shoots of toward the remembrall in a steep dive. With the wind and screams of spectators whistling in his ears, he stretches his arm forward, dangerously close to the ground, and manages to catch it. He pulls the broom up and falls off gently from the broomstick with Neville's gift safely in his hand.

"HARRY POTTER!" Harry's heart sinks when he sees Professor McGonagall rushing to where he landed with a furious look on her face.

Around dinner time, Selena wakes up to see Blaise sitted in a chair next to her. "Hey," she manages a weak smile, still rather dizzy.

Blaise turns to face a woman with greying hair and kind blue eyes who is standing at the foot of Selena's bed, "Will she be alright?"

"She's a little disoriented still but with some more rest she will be fine. I'll have some food brought down here for you two so that you both can get some nutrients in you. This boy has been in here since the end of classes. I could not get him to leave," Madam Pomfrey says with a bit of annoyance that is heavily outweighed by her worry.

Blaise blushes the tiniest bit and Selena says thank you to him with a dimpled smile. It is apparent to her that Blaise is with her while her twin brother is not- Neville had been discharged long ago. They eat while Blaise tells Selena what happened after she was taken to the hospital wing, "I can't believe you both end up doing almost exactly the same thing. I mean, I know your twins but this is just ridiculous. And that skill you have on the broom?! Madame Hooch was right, you should try out for chaser next year. Your brother is more of a seeker, unlike you he's a bit of a twig. You have more muscle on you so that position is much better for you. We'll definitely win with you on the team next year."

"Blaise, I don't even know how to play quidditch."

"Well lucky for you I am an excellent teacher."

Madame Pomfrey allows Selena to leave the hospital wing around eleven at night. When Blaise and Selena enter the common room they hear Draco bragging loudly, "...So I challenged Potter to a wizard's duel tonight at midnight and of course he chose blood traitor Weasley as his second. Unlike Potter, I'm not stupid enough to show up so I tipped Filch off." The Slytherins surrounding Malfoy chuckle at his plan.

Before anyone realizes, Selena has Draco pushed up against a wall of the common room. Nobody moves, too astonished by the outburst. "Now listen here _Malfoy_ ," she sneers while holding her wand to his neck, "I'm quite tired of you talking _shit_ behind my back and this one-sided rivalry you have with my brother. I know it must have been completely embarrassing for you, a pureblood, to get rejected by halfblood boy wonder Harry Potter but really do you have to be so _pathetic_? I wanted to have a peaceful coexistence with you but I change my mind. Your forgetting exactly who I am and I think you need a reminder. You all need a reminder. So listen up Slytherins!"

She throws Draco onto the nearest armchair and faces the crowd of snakes, "I am Selena Alice Potter, Heiress of the House of Potter and the Noble House of Black. Not only have I, a halfblood, inherited two pureblood names, I also inherited their wealth. You thought that the Potter and Black fortunes were just collecting dust over the years? You thought _wrong_ , my ancestors made sure that investments would always be made and every share that could benefit the family's hold on a company would be bought. For the Potter family these are mainly muggle and what you call 'blood traitor' companies, but for the Black family? Their ideals extended to their business practices too, so what does that mean? I hold a significant amount of shares in almost every business your families own. And because my parents are dead and there is currently no Head of the House of Black I can control where investments can be made. Write that to your parents and see what they say. You try to get rid of me? There's Harry and he'll pull out investments immediately, he's not as forgiving as I am. You try to get rid of Harry? I'll leave it in my will that if anything suspicious happens to Harry all investments will be pulled and the Black and Potter family will die out with us. Either way your family wealth is screwed and I'm untouchable."

"As for you, Draco," Selena turns her head in the direction of the pale blonde, "any harm that happens to Harry will end with your mom being disowned. Her branch of the Black account will be automatically emptied out and there goes any chance of you or any of your descendants from inheriting the Black name and wealth. I'll forgive this incident but next time I'll keep my word. Daddy dearest wouldn't want that now would he?"

Blaise has the urge to whistle in appreciation of his friend, but decides that it would likely ruin the moment. She storms off almost immediately after her declaration, leaving her dark skinned friend to appreciate the blanched faces on his own. He is definitely sure that he never wants to make Selena angry at him and that making friends with her was a good idea.

Blaise's initial intention to become friends with Selena wasn't out of a need for friendship. But rather because it was either her or Draco, and everybody knows where the Malfoys true loyalty lied during the war. His mother and her family managed to stay neutral last time but they often claim they were just lucky. While it may seem ridiculous to others, his mother always expresses fear of Voldemort returning and says that until she sees Voldemort's body she won't believe he's dead. If that were to happen, Blaise doesn't fancy becoming a Death Eater and unlike her brother Selena doesn't seem inclined to join Dumbledore. She's far too independent. Even so, he actually enjoys her company and is surprised to find himself caring about her. Growing up, his reserved nature kept him isolated and he had never minded that but now he can confidently call Selena Potter a friend.

Elsewhere, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville are running from the caretaker, Filch. They run into an door and attempt to hide in it only to find it to be locked.

"Oh move over!" Hermione pushes Ron out of the way. She grabs Harry's wand and points it at the knob, " _Alohamora_ ," she whispers. The door unlocks and they quickly jump into the room, closing the door behind them.

Peeves, more for the sake of annoying Filch than to help, leads the caretaker away from their hiding spot. Harry takes a sigh of relief and turns around. Suddenly, he'd rather be caught by Filch. It turns out that the four children didn't jump into a room but rather the forbidden third corridor. Looking into the mad eyes of a three headed dog the size of the room gives him a clear understanding of why the corridor is forbidden. At first their appearance had taken the monstrous dog by surprise, now it is baring it's sharp yellow fangs at them and Harry is frantically attempting to open the door again so that they can escape.

They run out of the corridor, somehow remembering to shut the door, and don't stop running until they reach the portrait of the _Fat Lady_ on the seventh floor. Panting, Harry tells her the password and she opens up to allow them entrance to the Gryffindor common room. The rooms is decorated in red and gold with a cozy fireplace, stuffed armchairs, and golden chandeliers casting a warm inviting glow. It brings great comfort to the shaken lions. Although Neville just streamlines to his dormitory.

"What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?" Ron says as he lays on an armchair trying to catch his breathe. "If any dog needs exercise, that one does."

"You don't use your eyes, do you?" Hermione snaps. "Didn't you see it was standing on something?"

"I wasn't looking at it's feet, I was a little busy with it's heads," Harry snarks.

"Or didn't _you_ notice? There was three of them!" Ron adds.

"It was standing on a trapdoor. It's guarding something," Hermione tells them with annoyance. She stands up and glares at them, "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to bed. Before you do something else that can get us killed, or _worse_ , expelled."

"No, we don't mind!" Ron says back to Hermione. "You'd think we dragged her along, and really? 'Or _worse_ , expelled.' She's got to sort out her priorities...Er...You going to tell Selena about this?" The poor ginger sounds a bit frightened at the thought.

Harry pales, "I didn't run from a three headed dog just to get killed by my twin!"

While in bed, all Harry can think about is what Hermione said. The dog is guarding something. According to Hagrid, Gringotts is heavily protected by dragons and enchantments. And Harry remembers Professor McGonagall saying Hogwarts was one of the only safe places during the war. Harry suspects that he accidentally found out the location of the grubby little package Hagrid took out of vault seven hundred and thirteen.


	11. Halloween

In honor of the nineteenth anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts, I give you the longest chapter yet and the formation of the Golden Trio.

Please favorite, follow, and review.

* * *

To Harry's and Ron's surprise Malfoy actually looks relieved when he sees that they are still in Hogwarts the next morning. It troubles them but it doesn't damage the cheerful mood they find themselves in. They can't wait to have another adventure. Harry tells Ron about the package that seems to have been moved from Gringotts to Hogwarts and they wonder what could it be for it to need such heavy protection. "It's either really dangerous or really valuable," Ron says.

"Or both," Harry adds.

"You know what else is dangerous and really valuable?" Harry and Ron turn around to see a quite unhappy Slytherin behind them. "A _very_ angry twin sister, that's what." Selena's eyebrows are scrunched, her lips are pursed, and her green eyes are cold. Oh yes, she is the most angry he has seen in a while and the younger twin finds himself to be terrified. Poor Ron, who has never seen Selena angry, heartless when she verbally attacked Snape but not angry, is shaking.

"O-Oh, good morning Moony."

"Don't you _dare_ , 'Good morning Moony,' me Harry James Potter," she says with clenched teeth and Harry knows to shut his mouth. "What kind of an _idiot_ could you possibly be to accept a wizard's duel when you know the _barest_ minimum of magic?" She turns to the redhead, "And _you_ , how dare you back him up on this? You know that wizard's duels are fought to the death but you went with it anyways. Why? Because you thought that Draco wouldn't know any spells either? There's no guarantee of that, you don't know his life or what he's been taught. Your lucky Malfoy would rather look like a coward at first than get caught, because if they had dueled and Harry was harmed you wouldn't be safe from _me_ either." She doesn't yell, instead she speaks calmly in a volume just above a whisper. Harry has always found it to be more frightening, looking at Ron's pale face he can tell the ginger agrees. "If I hear about you doing something so stupid again Harry you better hope that you're good at hiding," with that Selena leaves to her house table.

Dean, one of the Gryffindors who are close enough to Harry to overhear everything, gives him a look of pity. "Mate, your sister is the scariest girl I've ever seen." The other boys around nod in agreement, the most fervent being from Neville. Hermione looks rather smug about it all though she refuses to comment as she is no longer talking to Ron and Harry. Not that they mind. With his twin being too angry to talk to him, getting back at Malfoy is the farthest thing on Harry's mind. Incidentally, revenge arrives in the mail a week later.

Selena is sitting with Blaise still too angry to even glance at Harry. She would have gotten over it long ago, but adding that he didn't visit her in the Hospital Wing nor has he apologized to her for not visiting, her anger hasn't decreased. But does she really expect him to realize what he did wrong? No, for the large sense of justice her brother has he's always been oblivious of his own injustices when it comes to emotional problems. He has, what Selena calls, emotional situational dysfunction. To put it simply, he doesn't know how to deal with emotions.

Because of their time together in the cupboard, Harry knows some of her expressions. He has seen her angry and he has seen her in some amount of pain and he has seen her happy. But never has she let him see her sadness nor the full extent of her pain and ruthlessness. So she supposes that it's her own fault why her brother is oblivious in emotional situations. Like her sibling, Selena feels too much but as the older sibling she doesn't have the luxury to vent. She has to take care of her younger twin's physical and emotional well-being.

That being said, Selena worries about how his obliviousness will affect his relationships. She will always forgive her brother, but not all of his friends will. Selena can see Ron's awe of being best friends with Harry Potter turn into bitter jealousy for always being second best. She can see Harry's dismissal of Hermione affect the attitude of the Gryffindors around her to the point that no one wants to be friends with her. Not that Selena is particularly nice to the girl herself, she finds her condescending know-it-all attitude annoying. However, it's not Selena Hermione is trying to make friends with, it's Ron and Harry. Their negative words affect Hermione more than Selena's do.

Lost in her thoughts, she only notices Harry when he pulls her away from her breakfast, "Moony you've got to see this!" He drags her to where Ron is, holding a large parcel in his hand. Ron leads them to a secluded corridor. Harry finally lets go and drops onto the ground with Ron to open it. The broom is made of mahogany that's been smoothed to a shine, a long tail made of straight twigs, and the words Nimbus 2000 written in gold near the top.

"Harry, why do you have a broomstick?" Her confusion is clear and Harry realizes he didn't tell her about what happened after she was taken to the Hospital Wing.

He rubs his neck, "Err...Did you hear what happened after you were taken to this Hospital Wing?" His twin nods. "Well apparently Professor McGonagall saw me when I caught the remembrall and when I landed on I thought for sure she was going to take me to Professor Dumbledore's office, but instead she took me to the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain Oliver Wood. She told Wood that I could play seeker for the team, seems like they didn't have one. He agreed but said that I'd need a new broom and she said she would see what she could do. Good thing it came today because I have practice tonight."

Selena blinks, did she hear that right? Her brother got exempted from punishment and the rules were bent for him all because he caught a glass ball in his hand? Madame Hooch gave her twenty-five points for risking her life to save another student and a recommendation to tryout for the Slytherin team as chaser next year while Harry got an expensive broom? Her brother forgot about her because he was too excited about making the team for a sport he's never played? She clenches her jaw.

It's unfair.

Is Professor McGonagall really that desperate to win? Why did the Headmaster allow this? Would he allow it if it was Professor Snape asking for her? Or is it because Harry's a Gryffindor? Or is it because he's Harry Potter?

"Is that a broomstick?" The trio turns around to see Draco with Crabbe and Goyle. "First years aren't allowed them, Potter," Malfoy sneers out with a bit of jealousy.

Ron opens his mouth but is interrupted by Professor Flitwick, "Not arguing, I hope, boys and girl? Oh, Mr. Potter is that your new broomstick? Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstance during breakfast, what model is it?" He beams at Harry.

"A Nimbus 2000 sir," Harry has to stop himself from laughing at Draco's horror stricken face, "and it's really thanks to Malfoy here that I've got it."

"That's enough," Selena says firmly, "Take that up to your room, now." Draco hasn't said anything to antagonize Harry so the jab at him was uncalled for. Harry looks at her with confusion. She sighs and gently grabs her twin's hand with a small smile, "The broom is beautiful. Good luck at practice and be careful, okay?" Happy that his twin is supporting him and seems to have forgiven him Harry gives a large grin back.

Harry and Ron head upstairs.

Selena feels worse than she did before.

"I better be going to class. Have a good day Professor. You all as well Draco, Gregory, and Vincent," she curtseys a bit before walking away.

"Hmm…What a polite young lady," Flitwick muses before leaving.

The three Slytherins flinch as they remember the incident from the other day, she's the devil.

Before seven o'clock, Harry makes his way down to the quidditch field. The stands are tall towers high enough for the audience to see and there are three golden poles with hoops at the end on either side of the pitch. They remind Harry of the time Selena got two little plastic containers of bubbles from the librarian and they used a pole like that attached to the cap to blow bubbles throughout their cupboard. Harry blew some in his sister's face and laughed at the expression she made when a bubble popped in her mouth.

Harry mounts his broom and swoops in and out of the goal posts while waiting for Wood, the broom turning at the slightest touch.

"Hey, Potter, come down!"

Harry lands next to Oliver to see him carrying a large crate under his arm.

"Right," says Wood as he sets down the crate. "Now, Quidditch is easy enough to understand, even if it's not too easy to play. There are seven players on each side. Three of them are called Chasers." The older Gryffindor takes out a bright red ball about the size of a soccer ball, "This ball is the Quaffle. The Chasers throw the Quaffle to each other and try and get it through one of the hoops to score a goal. Ten points every time the Quaffle goes through one of the hoops. Follow me?"

Harry nods, "So, it's sort of like basketball on broomsticks with six hoops, isn't it?"

"What's basketball?"

"Nevermind."

Oliver shrugs, "Now, there's another player on each side who's called the Keeper. I'm the Keeper for Gryffindor. I have to fly around our hoops and stop the other team from scoring."

"Okay, three Chasers and one Keeper. They play with the quaffle. Got that." Harry points to the three balls left in the trunk, "What are those for?"

"Two of these are Bludgers. I'll show you what they do," Wood hands Harry a small club, "Take this." The Bludgers are black and a bit smaller than the quaffle. Harry notices that they seem to be trying to escape the straps holding them down in the crate. "Stand back," Wood warns him before releasing one.

Immediately the ball rises in the air and attempts to hit Harry in the face. On reflex, Harry hits it with the bat before it can break his nose. It zooms around the pitch and makes a shot at Oliver who manages to dive on top of it and pin it to the ground.

The Quidditch Captain pants as he straps the Bludger back in. "The Bludgers rocket around, trying to knock players off their brooms. That's why there's two Beaters on each team. The Weasley twins are ours, it's their job to protect the Gryffindor team from the Bludgers and try and knock them toward the other team. Now, the last member of the team is the Seeker. That's you. You don't have to worry about the Quaffle or the Bludgers unless they crack my head open, but the Weasleys are more than a match for the Bludgers. I mean, they're like a pair of human Bludgers themselves." Oliver reaches into the crate and takes out the last ball. It's about the size of a walnut and gold in color with silver fluttering wings. "This is the Golden Snitch, and it's the most important ball of the lot. It's very hard to catch because it's so fast and difficult to see. The Seeker's job is to catch it. You've got to weave in and out of the Chasers, Beaters, Bludgers, and Quaffle to get it before the other team's Seeker. Whichever Seeker catches the Snitch wins his team an extra hundred and fifty points, so they nearly always win. That's why Seekers get fouled so much. A game of Quidditch only ends when the Snitch is caught, so it can go on for ages. Well, that's it. Any questions?"

Harry shakes his head and they practice by Wood throwing golf balls as hard as he can in every direction for the Potter twin to catch. He doesn't miss a single one and after half an hour of this Oliver is delighted.

The younger twin has such a good time at Hogwarts, especially now that his sister is no longer angry at him, that he hardly believes two months have passed. The castle feels more like home than Private Drive ever has, he only wishes to have more opportunities to talk to Selena.

One major difference Harry notices, during breakfast on Halloween morning, is that his sister doesn't avoid her housemates anymore- instead they seem to avoid her. He doesn't know what she did to cause that but he can imagine it must have been frightening. His good mood increases when Professor Flitwick announces in Charms that they are ready to make objects fly. He pairs the class up to practice. Harry can't help but feel thankful that his partner is Seamus Finnigan instead of Neville. Ron is paired up with Hermione, and it's hard to tell who is angrier about the matchup.

Seamus and Harry try the swish and flick method Flitwick taught them but their feather doesn't move from the desktop. Seamus, due to impatience, prods his feather with his wand and sets it on fire. Harry puts it out with his hat.

" _Wingardium Leviosa!_ " Ron shouts, waving his arm around with no results.

"Stop, stop, stop." Hermione snaps, "You're going to take someone's eye out. Besides, you're saying it wrong. It's _Win-GAR-dium Levi-O-sa_ , not _Win-gar-DIUM Levi-o-SA_."

"You do it then, if you're so clever," Ron snarls.

Hermione flicks her wand, " _Wingardium Leviosa!_ " The feather rises off the desk and hovers about four feet over their heads.

"Oh, well done! Second student this week!" Professor Flitwick cries with joy and pride. "Everyone see here, Ms. Granger has done it! Ten points to Gryffindor!"

Ron is in a very bad mood by the end of class. "It's _LeviOsa_ not _LevioSA_. No wonder no one can stand her," the ginger tells Harry as they walk away from the Charms classroom, "she's a nightmare, honestly."

Someone knocks into Harry in a hurry to get passed him. It's Hermione and he is startled to see tears streaming down her face. "I think she heard you."

"So?" Ron looks uncomfortable. "She must've noticed she's got no friends."

Harry doesn't say anything else and as they go throughout their day they don't see her. On their way to the Halloween Feast, Harry and Ron overhear Lavender Brown telling Parvati Patil that Hermione is crying in the girl's bathroom and wants to be left alone. Ron looks more awkward at this information but Hermione is quickly put out of their minds when they enter the Great Hall and see the Halloween decorations. Thousands of bats are fluttering around the hall, causing the pumpkin candles to stutter when they swoop too close. The food appears on the table just as they sit down. Harry and Ron are about to serve themselves when they hear loud footsteps quickly approaching them.

They turn and Selena almost pounces on them. "What did you two do?" She hisses, looking at them both.

"W-W-What?" Ron asks, afraid and confused.

Her eyes focus on Ron and narrow with an intense heat that Harry cannot describe, "I just heard from Blaise, who overheard Parkinson, who was talking to Malfoy, who heard it from Daphne Greengrass, who overheard it from Parvati Patil telling Padma, who was told by Lavender Brown, who saw the whole thing, that Ron said that no one can stand Hermione and that's why she has no friends. And that she overheard. AND that she started crying. _AND_ that neither of you did anything thing about it!"

"B-But it's true!" Ron tries to defend himself.

Selena slams her fist on the table, if all the Gryffindor's eyes weren't on her earlier they certainly are now, "I don't _care_ if it's true! You don't make a girl cry and do nothing about it as if it isn't any of your _fucking_ business!" She turns to Harry and her twin is finally able to recognize the emotion behind her eyes, though it has never been directed to him, it's disappointment. "And _you_. You stood by and let your friend be a complete _ass_? Why didn't you say anything? I raised you better than that!" She notices that the Professors at the high table are looking at them in wonder and steps away from the table. Without a word she walks briskly out of the Great Hall to the girl's bathroom where she heard Hermione is.

For about ten minutes, nobody dares to say a word to the two boys solemnly eating their food. Ron's older siblings feel that Selena is right. The youngest male Weasley feels as if he just was just scolded by his mother. Harry can only think about the way his sister looked at him and how he never wants to see her look at him like that again.

Suddenly, Professor Quirrell comes running into the hall, terror on his face, "Troll in the dungeon! Troll in the dungeons!" He reaches Professor Dumbledore and in contrast with his earlier screaming calmly says, "Thought you oughta know." Before fainting and landing on the floor.

Panic immediately spreads throughout the Great Hall and it takes Dumbledore using his wand to shoot out firecrackers to quiet the students down. "Prefects," he rumbles, "lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!"

Percy immediately gets to work, "Follow me! Stick together, first years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first years coming through! Excuse me, I'm a prefect!"

Harry grabs Ron's arm. "Selena!" He hisses with terror-filled realization.

Ron's eyes go wide, "S-She went to her common room, right?"

The younger twin shakes his head frantically, "Knowing her she went to go look for Hermione!"

Without another word the two boys duck down and follow the Hufflepuffs. They slip down an empty corridor and hurry to the girl's bathroom. They turn around the corner and when they hear footsteps they immediately hide behind a large stone griffin. Peering around it, they see Snape crossing the corridor and disappear from view. "What's he doing?" Harry whispers. "Why isn't he down in the dungeons with the rest of the teachers?" As quietly as they can, they walk to the next corridor. "He's heading to the third corridor," Harry concludes.

Ron covers his nose, "Can you smell something?"

Selena knocks gently on the door of the girl's bathroom.

"Go away," a sniffling voice from inside says.

"Now I know that my brother is an idiot and I haven't been exactly nice to you, but those words Ron said about you weren't right," the oldest Potter says, in a tone reminiscent of a mother comforting a child. She hears footsteps and when the door opens Selena finds herself being hugged. She returns the embrace before gently guiding Hermione back in the bathroom, to the wall where the sinks are hanging. The two girls sit down, the ravenette keeping an arm around the brunette. "He's just jealous."

Hermione looks at Selena with disbelief, tears still in her eyes.

The Black Heiress nods, "It's true. Even if Ron isn't a believer in all that blood purity crap, he's still a boy from a magical household. A boy who grew up with five other boys, he's used to having his brothers one up him and he's used to being better than his little sister. It doesn't excuse his behavior, like hell, but it likely irks him that a girl is beating him in magic. Even worse, a girl who knew nothing about magic until she received her Hogwarts letter. It's a discriminatory thought, but that's human nature and he doesn't mean it to be derogatory, he just believes that since he has more experience with magic he should be better at it than you. But he's not, because you're more talented."

"Y-You really think so?"

"Yeah, with me it's different. I have an eidetic memory, you see. So Ron chalks up my talent with magic to my natural gift, and while it does help a lot that's not the whole truth. Reading and observing doesn't make you a master of a skill, practice does. And I practice every chance I get. I've burned my hands with my own magic more than enough times, at first I hid it but after the flying lesson incident Blaise kind of hovered. He dragged me to Madame Pomfrey when he saw me burn myself and they were both angry when they learned it wasn't the first time. Ever since then Madam Pomfrey has been teaching me healing spells and remedies so that I wouldn't always have to go to the Hospital Wing...Ron is different from us. He wants to be distinguished from his family but he has no passion, no drive, no _ambition_...I think that you could have easily been sorted into Slytherin with all that ambition, but of course you weren't."

Hermione glares at nothing in particular, "Because my parents weren't magical?"

Selena shakes her head. "No, because you don't use your talent to make things go your way. That is really the only difference between Gryffindors and Slytherins. Both houses are brave, both are clever, and both are natural-born leaders. But Gryffindors rather use these traits for the greater good while Slytherins use these traits for their own good. It's because they are so alike but their intentions so different that the houses clash like cats and dogs. According to Hogwarts: A History, Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin also fought a lot but they were able to look past their difference and be great friends. But, from what I read in The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, is that during the rise of the first Dark Lord Gellert Grindelwald was often described as clever, cunning, and ambitious. Slytherin traits, and thus the distrust for Slytherins began."

Hermione looks up at Selena in awe, as if she had just given her the secret of life. But then she seems to ponder something, "You said that Ron wasn't like us, that he has no ambition. I know what mine is, but what's yours?"

"I want to protect my brother," Selena says so softly that Hermione can barely hear her. She smiles at the bushy-haired brunette, "Even before I knew Harry was the Boy-Who-Survived or whatever, everything I did and everything I will do is to protect him, from anything. So it's probably my own fault that Harry turned out to be an oblivious idiot when it comes to emotional situations because I'd only let him see me happy or angry. Today is actually the first time I've ever been disappointed in him, or even raised my voice at him. I don't like to yell when I'm angry, I don't want to sound like my Aunt Petunia or Uncle Vernon, but yelling felt like a good idea at that time."

"...You can't always be there for him, you know," Hermione says with concern.

The Potter Heiress sighs, "I know." She grabs the Gryffindor by the shoulders, "I'm going to ask for you to do something for me, and before you say anything hear me out." Hermione nods. "I have a plan that will get Harry and I out of my Aunt and Uncle's house, don't ask why, you'll probably find out soon enough. This plan is in progress and it mean I have to be the adult, I mean, I know I act a lot like a mother but when it comes down to it Harry knows that as his twin I'll always be at his side. I'm not sure if he'll see it the same way when I officially become his guardian. Don't ask how, it's probably best if you don't know. What I'm asking you...Is to please forgive Harry and please," holding back tears in her green eyes Selena manages to say the most gut-wrenching thing she has ever said in her life, "be his sister when I can't."

Hermione nods, crying tears for the girl who won't allow herself to. Selena slumps onto her shoulder, "Thank you."

Before anything else can be said, the sound of the bathroom door creaking open echoes throughout the room and Selena hurriedly drags Hermione to a stall to save face. Selena has just locked the door when a mixed scent of old socks and dirty bathroom hits her nose. The girls look at each other questioningly then silently decide to take a look. In front of the closed door of the bathroom, there is a twelve feet tall, gray lumpy body with a small bald head, short thick legs, and flat horny feet. Its holding a wooden club, which drags along the floor because of it's long arms. "A troll," Hermione whispers in horror and Selena covers her mouth before she can scream.

Then a click.

"Please tell me somebody just didn't lock the bathroom door," Selena prays.

Hermione shrieks from behind Selena's hand, catching the attention of the troll who immediately stomps towards them. The troll raises its club and the girls manage to get out of the stall and move away before it can whack the stall and them in it. They are against the wall with the sinks again, and Selena is about to grab Hermione to try to make a run for it when Harry and Ron come in.

"Selena! Hermione!" Her twin yells, directing the troll's attention to him before it decides that two girls shrinking against the wall make better prey. The troll advance to them, leaving destruction in its path. Harry and Ron desperately try to seize the troll's attention by throwing debris at it to annoy it.

It works.

The trolls turn to Ron, who is at a much safer distance from the troll than Selena and Hermione are. Harry gesture for the girls to run but Selena can't move Hermione who is still flat against the wall. The trolls gets too close to Ron for comfort and Harry does the bravest and stupidest thing he ever has.

He lunges on the troll's neck.

The troll, at first, doesn't notice him but it certainly does when Harry's wand goes up into it's nostril. Selena, scared out of her wits because of where her brother currently is, also does an incredibly brave and stupid thing. She casts a spell, one above her grade level, one she has only read the theory behind in Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland, and one that she knows won't have any, if little effect, on the troll. But she is desperate.

" _Stupefy_!"

A blinding red light shoots from the tip of her wand, burning her hands due to her putting too much magic into the spell and to her surprise causing the troll to stagger.

Ron takes the opportunity and whips out his own wand, "Wingardium Leviosa!" The club suddenly flies out of the troll's hand, high up in the air, and drops onto its owner's head. The troll sways and falls flat on its face.

Harry gets to his feet and is immediately assaulted by Selena's hands patting him down to see if he's injured. He grabs her wrists, "Your hands, their burned."

She pull them away, "You're okay," she says in relief.

Harry takes a second to process how easily she dismissed her injury.

"Is it...dead?" Hermione asks.

Harry looks at it and shakes his head, "No, just knocked out." He bends down and pulls his wand out of the troll's nose, "Ugh, troll boogers." He cleans his wand off on the troll's pants.

Slamming and loud footsteps makes the four look up. Professor McGonagall comes bursting into the room, followed by Snape and Quirrell. Professor Quirrell takes one look at the troll, lets out a faint whimper, and sits down quickly while clutching his heart.

Snape bends over to look at the troll. Professor McGonagall looks at Harry and Ron. "What on earth were you thinking of?" She says with cold fury in her voice. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?

The Potions Professor gives a sharp look at Harry. Ron, who still has his wand up in the air, slowly begins to lower it at Selena's sharp look towards him.

"Please, Professor, they were looking for me," Hermione squeaks.

"Miss Granger!"

"I went looking for-"

"Ron made Hermione cry and she's been here all day," Selena cuts Hermione off from her lie. She crosses her arms, hiding her burned hands and looking reprimanding. "When I heard about what Ron said and that Harry didn't do anything, I yelled at them for being jerks. That little scene I made in the Great Hall earlier. Then came over here to check on her. We didn't know about the troll. Harry knows me well enough to know that I went to look for Hermione and made the connection that both of us were in danger. Hermione and I managed to dodge its first swing at us, and honestly our chances of coming out safe were slimmer without them. Hermione was too scared to move and there's no way I'd be able to defend us for as long as it took for you all to get here."

Ron and Harry look at Selena with large confusion and a sliver of betrayal, they saw that Hermione was about to lie to a teacher to get them out of trouble, so why did she have to go say the truth? Hermione, however, understands what the oldest twin is doing. She's making sure they get punished so that they know they did wrong.

She's being the adult.

"Well...In that case," the Gryffindor Head of House looks at the two boys, "Forty points will be taken for Mr. Weasley's and Mr. Potter's shameful behavior. I'm very disappointed in you two, we do not talk down on our peers nor allow others to do so." Ron and Harry hang their head in remorse. "Twenty points will be given to Slytherin for Ms. Potter's honourable actions. Another five points to her and to each of you, not many first years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll and lived to tell the tale. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go to your common rooms if you're not hurt at all. Students are finishing the feast in their houses."

"Actually Professor," Harry pipes before Selena can run away, "Selena burned her hands casting a spell earlier. Stupefy, I think it was."

Selena sends a glare at her twin who looks unapologetic.

"Stupefy is a third year spell Ms. Potter, it's dangerous for you to attempt at your age," Minerva scolds her lightly.

"I've noticed," she drawls.

"Trolls are resilient to Stupefy, Ms. Potter," Snape says in an almost condescending way.

Hermione's brows furrow in thought, "But Selena made that thing stagger."

Severus and Minerva look absolutely disbelieving but one look at the girl's hands and they can see how badly she burned them. The skin is raw and there are patches of it bleeding. It makes them wonder how much magical energy she channel into the spell. "Then I'll be taking Ms. Potter to the hospital wing," the Head of Slytherin says.

"I can get there myself," she spits out before running out of the bathroom in the direction of the Hospital Wing.

The other three first-years hurry out of the chamber and don't speak at all until they are approaching the Gryffindor common room entrance. "We didn't deserve any points really," Ron mumbles. "But why did Selena have to rat us out like that?"

"I know, she's never done anything like that before," Harry says more in confusion than anger.

"She did it because she thought it was the right thing to do," Hermione huffs. "I admire your sister, she's a good person. While it may seem like she turned her back on you Harry, trust me that isn't the case." The brunette looks at them, "She just wants you two to know you did wrong."

"But why? She isn't my mother," Ron grumbles so low only Harry can hear.

"Pig Snout," Hermione tells the Fat Lady and she swings open.

The trio stand there awkwardly, not looking each other in the eye, "Thanks," they all say before hurrying over to the food.

From there on out Hermione became their friend, and years from now Harry will look back at this moment in grief.


End file.
